Students trying to share their creativity or discover some of the University’s most talented writers and performers are in for a treat.The Delta Journal, the University’s undergraduate literary journal, is hosting its first of two “art parties” at the Shaw Center, located at 100 Lafayette St., on Friday night. The doors open at 5 p.m., and admission is free.The art party will feature readings from Delta writers, artwork and ceramics and sculptures from graduate students and live music from many local musicians, said co-editors-in-chief Samuel Oliver and Anna Hurst. Whole Foods will cater food and refreshments.Art parties are just the beginning of what the Delta Journal has to offer, said Randolph Thomas, English instructor and faculty adviser for the Delta Journal.The Delta Journal features student poetry, short stories, fiction, non-fiction, artwork and interviews with special guests, Thomas said.”The Journal is the only complete voice for undergraduate creative writers,” Thomas said.”[The Journal] allows them to practice editing and developing their creative techniques they have learned in courses.”Amanda Mertz, English junior, said she appreciates the opportunities the Delta Journal offers.”[The Delta Journal] is a way to see what contemporaries have to say about your work,” Mertz said. “It’s a way to get out into the real world and show your stuff instead of reading to your stuffed animals at home.”Most students who submit work to the Journal are English majors, but students of all majors get published, Oliver and Hurst said.”We want to be a creative outlet,” Oliver said. “Who hasn’t written a good poem or an essay that they thought was funny? Most people who submit tend to not know how talented they really are.”The Journal, which started in 1947, is undergoing a “renaissance,” as the journal is once again starting to find its footing as a prominent campus publication after being completely out of print from 1995-2004, Oliver said.”The Delta has too amazing of a history to die,” Oliver said. “We have had people like John Ed Bradley, the author of ‘It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium,’ write a short story, and famed wildlife photographer C.C. Lockwood has had work published in the Delta.”The Delta Journal will be published in color for the first time in its history this May.
 
 
 
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