The Seventh Wave

At The Seventh Wave, we are interested in building community for and with individuals who come from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to dig deeper into the hard conversations that impact how we view our lives, our environments, and our relationships to one another. We’re looking for unique perspectives, distinctive voices, and novel takes on our current issue, and are committed to being as inclusive as possible. (We do not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, or xenophobic content.) 

Our online publication for Issue 10: "Willful Innocence" is now open for submissions and will close Friday, May 31st. We invite writers, artists, activists, and creators to take part in a global conversation that examines the complexities of claiming innocence. In conjunction with reviewing these guidelines, please read the full call for submissions here or below. Issue 10 publication will roll out in late July.

[A note to our past contributors: We hope to continue to provide a platform for new voices. While we are big fans of your creative work, if we have previously published you, we ask that you help us give space to new writers. We are still working on ways to offer more opportunities for you to stay involved, be it through publication, side convos, or helping with events. If you want to get involved or have ideas, feel free to get in touch.] 

FEES & FEEDBACK: We are a volunteer-run organization dedicated to paying our contributors and genre editors. We care about words and we care about people: we respond to every submission and are dedicated to making that happen within 2-3 months. Proceeds here go towards our contributors and the basic costs of maintaining our publication, i.e. our Submittable subscription, website costs, promotions, and so on. We appreciate your interest in submitting and the collective support from our community in helping to elevate these necessary voices and conversations.

Below, you will find two options for general submissions.

Option 1: Editorial Feedback ($25). This is for the writer or artist who would benefit from and/or is interested in feedback. We know how it feels to submit work and never receive a response, which is why we’re offering this option for some extra support and insight. Editorial Feedback submissions that are not accepted will receive personalized feedback from our editors about the piece. These suggestions will be thoughtful, but will not be line edits. If you submit to this category and we accept your submission, we will remit the fee upon publication in addition to paying you for your work! 

Option 2: Small Fee, No Feedback ($5). Should you not want more extensive feedback, submit using this option. Again, we carefully read and consider each piece and will respond within 2-3 months. If we do not select your piece for publication, you will receive a more generic rejection letter, as we are but three editors. As fellow writers, we understand what it feels like to send work out into the world, and we are truly grateful to have the opportunity to read your work!

If a fee creates a barrier to entry, please submit directly to our email, noting in the subject line that you are submitting for Issue 10. You must follow our guidelines and be sure to include all necessary attachments/information. Our hope here is to provide increased accessibility.

** Multiple submissions are not accepted. Please only submit one piece for consideration. 

** Please include a short third-person bio, listing previous publications and work, as well as 1-2 sentences about how your piece relates to our current topic. (Submissions that do not include how they relate to the current topic will not be considered.) Additionally, please title your document according to the convention: “AuthorLastName_Title” and select which genre most closely describes your piece.

PAYMENT: We are committed to paying our contributors. While it can vary by submission, generally speaking, we offer $50 for prose, film, plays, multiple poems, and multiple pieces of artwork; for individual poems, images, artwork we offer $25.

REQUIRED: Please include a short third-person bio, listing previous publications and work, as well as 1-2 sentences about how your piece relates to our current topic.  (Submissions that do not include how they relate to the current topic will not be considered.) Additionally, please title your work according to the convention: “AuthorLastName_Title” and select which genre most closely describes your piece.

RIGHTS: The Seventh Wave will acquire First Rights (Non-Exclusive Electronic) upon publication, meaning that we will be the first place on the Internet where the piece is displayed. To reiterate: no previously published pieces (we consider blog postings previous publication) will be accepted. All rights will revert to the author 45 days after publication.

ISSUE 10 CALL: Willful Innocence

At a time when industry giants, celebrity politicians, and entire socioeconomic communities are being forced to confront their collective wrongdoing, we as individuals are faced with our own reckoning: What role have we played in allowing these corruptions of power to exist? 

How has our inaction caused hurt? We are all complicit in our misunderstandings of one another, but we can no longer pardon ignorance as an acceptable form of justice. Entire populations, nations, and industries have tried to blame their missteps on ignorance — it’s the reason why blackface, childhood sexual abuse, college bribery scandals, and even wars, persist. But in this age of hyper-connectivity, it is as much a privilege to be willfully ignorant as it is to turn a blind eye to inequities once we recognize them. 

So how can we unpack this presumed and perceived innocence in order to better understand one another and our respective motivations? What role do apologies have in our individual and collective endeavors toward progress, toward both being and doing better? And what part does shame have in helping or harming the process of learning from our mistakes? It’s much easier to vilify people than it is to see that they could have both dark and light in them, but is there a point at which giving others the benefit of the doubt does more harm than good?

* * *

For this issue, we’re examining the complexities of claiming innocence. Tell us about a time when you failed to take responsibility for your own actions, and what the aftermath revealed about yourself. Tell us about how your boundaries or identity have been violated, and how you rebuilt trust with yourself (and the world). What are the cultural beliefs that have stemmed from our collective victim mentality? How can we learn from moments of failing so that our anger, grief, and shame can propel us toward conversations and healing? And what does forgiveness look like from where you hurt?