Today, we’re celebrating Synthesis, the amalgamation of everything that makes us who we are. Over this past summer, we’ve all been through change and transformation--but through it all, the idea of synthesis has grounded us in our commitment to showcasing diverse voices across the world and supporting individuality in our everyday lives. It's always so unifying seeing everyone’s work compiled into one issue. At its essence, Surging Tide exists to celebrate idiosyncratic and experimental work. We can't wait to share this issue with you. 

I think that oftentimes, the word "synthesis" implies a neat fusion of different forces--that by its culmination, everything would be unified into an immaculate whole. But the more I think about it, the less I think that’s true. I’m glad we’re disjointed, that we’re a mosaic of every success, failure, heartbreak, and joy we've experienced. There is unity in diversity, and it’s okay if it’s messy. This issue is messy. We’re humans. We’re messy. We’re loud. We’re here to stay. 

In this issue, you’ll find new poetry, prose, music, collages, paintings, photography, a behind-the-scenes feature. Issue 7 marks the finale of our inaugural writing and art contest, where we were thrilled to receive hundreds of submissions. We’re excited to highlight the work of Daniel Liu, the winner of both the poetry and prose categories, and Kaiser Louis’ La Matrone, winner of the art category. We are so grateful for everyone who made this contest possible: our submitters, our masthead, and our guest judges, I. S. Jones and Angie Sijun Lou. And of course, we’re indebted to you, our readers, for supporting us and listening to what we have to share. 

With love, 
Sophia Liu & Andrew Kang 
Co-Managing Editors

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