Jay Serrano
Editorial Director
Hello again! I hope this issue finds you all well.
Issue 07 is a big deal for us. It signifies many firsts for Cicada, some of which we’ve planned from our very first meeting and some of which we never could’ve predicted.
It’s our first issue that was open to submissions from the general public. When we started Cicada, university policy prohibited us from soliciting outside submissions, and even after we moved on, it took awhile for us to take the plunge. We received a high volume of submissions, and this ended up being one of our most competitive issues yet. Seeing the variation in your stories and lives was rewarding and inspiring. We will continue to keep submissions and staff open to anyone; we believe this is the best way to accomplish our mission of nurturing an accessible and inclusive creative community.
It was also the first time we incorporated survey data from our community into the issue’s design. We asked you all to anonymously respond to questions that located your own personal histories, and your responses were incorporated into the back cover. We’ve always wanted you all to be as much a part of this as we are, whether you submit your work or not–and so, for the first time, we have also created an interactive feature for you to create your own postcards to send round the world.
There are many other first-time milestones we’ve reached (first published audio piece, first non-staff created cover, first back cover, the list goes on), but suffice it to say we’ve come a long, long way. However, in tracing our own map to understand where we came from and how we got here, we also know our journey is far from complete.
We hope you’ll join us at our next destination. Stay creative!