Mosaic, the literary magazine of Nicholls, is approaching deadlines for its 2009 release. The deadline for all text submissions including essays, poems, excerpts and short stories is Friday, Dec. 5.

The deadline for all art submissions including paintings, sculptures and photography will be Friday, Jan. 30.

Jackie Jackson, the adviser of Mosaic, is encouraging all students to continue to submit entries for Mosaic 2009.

She stresses that there is no specific major required to participate in the magazine.

“One of the things about Mosaic that I think is so neat is that students from all the departments send things in,” Jackson says. “Anybody who can write or paint a picture or take a picture, we need your talent.”

The process of putting the magazine together begins in the fall and is completed in the spring.

A group of student readers and editors are responsible for the final content.

“We have a large group of readers who decide what will be published in Mosaic, and the final decisions go to our editors,” Jackson says. “It’s a completely student-generated magazine, student paid-for, very ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.'”

One thing that makes Mosaic different from other college literary magazines is the student-only factor.

“Teachers aren’t published in it,” Jackson says. “It is 100 percent students-only.”

Lack of space is often an issue for the magazine because of the amount of entries submitted for publication.

“I don’t want any students to feel bad if their work is not selected,” Jackson says. “We only have 64 pages and we usually fill it up. It’s usually quality work and I’m very proud of what we end up with.”

Mosaic has been printed at Nicholls since the University was established. It went by the name of “Pencil Tracks” for the first few years of publication.

To enter a submission to the magazine, students are required to attach an entry form to a copy of their work, which gives the magazine permission to publish it.

Forms are available online at nicholls.edu/mosaic as well as in manila folders in the hallways of Peltier Hall.