ABOUT US

CCM aims to cultivate a community of creative voices across disciplines and backgrounds. We leverage our online platform to publish experimental and unconventional work, providing a home for bold ideas that may struggle to fit in traditional spaces. We strive to lower barries of entry to publishing while maintaining a curated, high quality collection that showcases the best our community has to offer.

Cicada was founded in 2018, the brainchild of seven undergraduate students at Colorado State University. We wanted to assemble something new: a creative magazine accessible to all CSU undergraduate students across all disciplines. At the time, our on-campus publications were open only to a sliver of students based on GPA or major, and most literary magazines focus exclusively on writing and/or visual art. We believe these limitations stifle creativity and expression. There is artistry in science, in math, in lines of code — and we wanted to include it all.

We’ve evolved a lot since our first meetings at a coffee shop on the corner of campus, but our core mission has never wavered. Instead, it has expanded. When the COVID-19 pandemic moved the world online in 2020, we adapted and went fully remote, opening our submissions to undergraduates everywhere.

And as of Issue 07, anyone can submit to CCM and apply for staff.

Submissions open twice a year, typically in the spring and fall. We organize editorial teams to review anonymized submissions and vote on what we think should be included in the issue. Then, we publish a carefully crafted issue of your work.

We acknowledge that art doesn’t always come box-shaped, perfectly ready to fall into a category. Cicada Creative Magazine exists to showcase that artistic exploration and novelty.

We hope to broadcast each and every way you make your mark on our world.

A spread we made on our third meeting.