As the school breaks for Thanksgiving and Christmas are quickly approaching, so is the deadline for submissions for Mercyhurst University’s fine arts and literary magazine, Lumen.

Any submissions have the chance to win prizes of monetary value up to $250.

The unveiling of Lumen in the spring semester is the final, climactic event of the Literary Festival.

The Literary Festival, which consists of other events such as poetry readings and presentations given by various poets, writers and other reknown literary artists.

In the past, speakers including slam poet Mohja Kahf and PEN/Faulkner award-winning author Karen Joy Fowler have stood on the stage of Taylor Little Theatre and shared their work with the audience of students and Erie community members.

Each year, the staff of the magazine accepts submissions, ranging from short stories to poetry, and chooses what is to be added to the final published version of the literary magazine.

The staff began officially accepting submissions in September of this year.

Students whose works are chosen to be featured in Lumen will not only have the honor of being published in the magazine, but a chance to win money for their writings.

The three best submissions will receive cash prizes of $250 for first place, $150 for second place and $100 for third place.

The awards will be given at the magazine’s unveiling reception on Thursday, April 23.

Afterwards there will be an open mic held for anyone wishing to share their work.

Last year’s Lumen was the best to date, and the staff hopes to keep improving the magazine every year with new and exciting student works.

All submissions should be in a Microsoft Word document and sent as an attachment to the Lumen staff’s email, lumen@mercyhurst.edu.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 5.