mercyhurst.edu photo: As the Literay Fest draws to an end, students and staff were excited for the unveiling of the Lumen, the student edited literary magazine.

During the past few months, Mercyhurst University’s English Department has worked hard on the college’s annual Literary Festival, which ended this past week with the capstone event: the unveiling of the Lumen Literary Magazine.

The Literary Festival is an important celebration on campus that consists of multiple events. Faculty members of the English Department are the main contributors and the ones who put on the festival each year.

Most of the events are poetry readings by poets picked by Gregory Brown, Ph.D. For this year’s festival, Brown brought in poets Ann Fisher-Wirth, Mohja Kahf and author Karen Joy Fowler. The final capstone event of the festival was the unveiling of the Lumen Literary Magazine.

The magazine, although supervised and managed by Kenneth Schiff, Ph.D., of the English Department, is run entirely by students.

Each year, students submit their art, whether it be visual art, poetry or short stories, and the staff, which is also comprised of students, pick what they believe should appear in the magazine.

The staff, led by their editor-in-chief, then edit the submissions they have chosen and begin the process of putting the magazine together. The editor-in-chief for this year’s Lumen was senior Molly Hunter.

When asked why she believes Lumen is important to our university, Hunter said, “I think Lumen is a great opportunity to give students from all majors the chance to showcase and recognize their creativity outside of the classroom. It also helps to foster a sense of community for the creative writers on campus.”

Hunter said she will miss working on the Lumen and with the staff.

In response to being asked how working on the Lumen has impacted her education, Hunter also said, “Being editor has given me a greater appreciation for how much of a community Mercyhurst is, because Lumen encompasses works from not only English majors, but also dance pieces, musical compositions, and photography.”

As editor-in-chief, Hunter oversees the work of the other staff members and works directly with the magazine’s advisor, Kenneth Schiff, Ph.D.

Schiff responded similarly to Hunter when asked about the significance of the Lumen, and said, “Lumen is important to Mercyhurst because this is a liberal arts college, and students’ creative work is the foundation of a liberal arts education.”

The Lumen’s staff this year worked diligently to present the magazine to the university students, and are looking forward to seeing next year’s student submissions.