Have you ever written anything creative and wanted it to be published? Now is your chance! The “Lumen” is a completely student-run magazine that showcases students’ artwork for all to see at Mercyhurst. Originally, “Lumen” began in 1995 as a journal for creative writing pieces only, but it has since expanded as a Mercyhurst tradition to feature all of the talents that the student body has to offer. This is done by showcasing multimedia such as photography, dance and music in addition to creative writing pieces. Current students of any class year or major can submit work. Each student can submit up to two short stories and/or three poems. Other works can include a short film, picture, performance, or digital media.“Lumen” is produced through a lot of teamwork from the faculty advisors, chief editors, editors and designers. The faculty advisors are Gregory Brown, Ph.D., assistant professor of English, and Jodi Staniunas Hopper, MFA, department chair of Art and associate professor of Art. The editorial staff this year are Ashley Barletta, Sarah Beck, John Carol, Ash Carr, Alexia Enright, Madison Jukkola, Gabriella Piccirilli, Elizabeth Plummer, Marley Ramon, Sarah Sebald, Matti Trim-bath, and Corinne Voelker. There is always a different theme for the magazines and those are created by the designers. Brown said, “Lumen’s theme develops organically each year from the submissions we get and the design team’s vision. There’s no theme going into each year—or at least there hasn’t been one before. The student editors are looking for engaging work.”The “Lumen” is revealed in the final event at the Literary Festival in the spring semester. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who is interested in writing, photography, music, or dance to have their work published. Again there are no topic restrictions to the work that is submitted as art is subjective and should be important to the author.“It’s wonderful to see one’s name in print or on the Mercyhurst website. For those who wish to be writers later in life, the process of having work submitted to “Lumen” is very similar to the way work is submitted to the best journals in the country. In the same vein, students who work as editors and designers of “Lumen” get valuable, professionalizing experience,” said Brown. There is also a little contest where the English faculty anonymously judge the best three works and those authors receive cash awards amounting to hundreds of dollars. Here is a link to last year’s “Lumen” for those who are interested: https://www.mercyhurst.edu/sites/default/files/lumen2022f-inaldigital.pdfIf you have any questions regarding the “Lumen,” you can reach out to Dr. Brown. Do not hesitate to submit to the “Lumen Submission Manager” on the student HUB page under Campus Life if you are at all interested in being part of the literary journal. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. There will also be an open mic event at Luke’s Landing the day before the deadline closes. Be sure to keep your eye out for the “Lumen” when it is published this coming spring!