The Muse, a literary magazine published by the Writers’ Union at Notre Dame,  was started by Mr. Larry Laraby, a former teacher, and Mr. Steven Stary, a current English/social studies teacher.

A published poet and founder of Writers’ Union, Mr. Laraby let his enthusiasm for literature inspire the club’s creation and annual spring production of the “lit mag,” as it is commonly called at NDA.

The Muse is printed once a year and open to submissions from both students and faculty of Notre Dame. The artwork and  literature are evaluated for publication by a committee of Writers’ Union members.

In recent years, according to one of the Writers’ Union advisers, being published in the lit mag was quite an accomplishment because of the number of submissions.

“I’d really like to see the literary magazine elevated to the status it used to have here at NDA.   Perhaps, however, today’s magazine is a sign of the times as technology has given everyone an outlet to be published and being paper-published is not the special status it once was,” said Mrs. Carolyn Brown..

The Muse takes submissions of short stories, poetry and original artwork. The deadline for submissions is April 6th. Poetry and prose entries must be submitted electronically at [email protected]. Artwork may be given to Mrs. Brown or Mrs. Thillman, the other adviser for Writers’ Union..

“It’s really tough [to judge submissions] because it’s based on opinion. With poetry especially, some people will think a poem is great while others think that it’s not that good,” said Juliana Martin, a senior who has judged for The Muse in the past and is in Writers’ Union.

The maximum number of words for a short story is 1500, double spaced, with a limit of two submissions. The maximum number of lines in a poem is 40, with a limit of five entries.

The artwork must be signed in ink, reproducible, and in a medium that will not be destroyed by general handling. Photographs may not be submitted, and there is a limit of three pieces of artwork per person.

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I’m afraid of,” said Joss Whedon.