Come one, come all if you are a lover of the arts. The Watermark, the UMass Boston journal of the arts will celebrate the eagerly anticipated release of its tenth anniversary edition at a reception on Tuesday, May 13 at 4:30pm in the Harbor Art Gallery. Prizes will be awarded and refreshments will flow like milk and honey.

For those of you not in the know, The Watermark is a student run arts/literary journal that contains a composite of student-produced works of art. The organization also collaborates with other student groups and university departments to bring well-known poets and fiction writers to campus to speak about their works. This year guest appearances included renowned literary figures Ha Jin and former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky.

The completion of this year’s edition is due to enduring efforts of The Watermark’s co-editors, Nancy Derby and Diane Costagliola. Both worked on last year’s edition of The Watermark. Derby cherishes the entire learning process.

“I love every bit of it: the pressure of organizing events such as open mics, the on-the-job education of Adobe InDesign 2.0 (an up-and-coming desktop publishing program), and working with faculty, such Robert Crossley of the English department and Askold Melnyczuk of the Creative Writing Program.”

A year’s long work culminates in a two-hour celebration that means as much to the 30 plus members of The Watermark staff as it does to the artists that contributed their works. Poets and writers, fiction and non-fiction, will be able to read their works out loud while painters, sketchers, and photographers will be present to answer some questions about their works. Costagliola, for one, is excited for the opportunity since she will be able to place faces with names and works of art.

“Obviously, I know quite a few of the contributors personally. However, many of the pieces that simply amazed me were done by students with whom I am not acquainted. Now, I’ll have the chance to meet them and converse with them about their works. Derby and Costagliola are raring to go for a second round of Watermark production as the duo plan to return as co-editors for next year’s edition. And even though it may seem early in the game, individuals interested in joining the staff for next year as an section editor or section reader/jurist should stop by the Watermark office, which is located on the fourth floor of the Wheatley building in room 177.