The 2013 edition of the Absolute literary journal will be released on Thursday, April 25, with a reception to unveil the new edition, and recognize the writers and artists whose works have been chosen for publication. The event will be from 12:30 until 1:30 in CU1 and CU2, said Marybeth McCauley, faculty adviser and reception coordinator.

The reception will feature readings from the journal and music from the OCCC jazz ensemble, under the direction of music Professor Michael Boyle.

Critics’ Choice Awards will be presented for the top submissions in each genre.

The winning entries were chosen by a select group of judges, all of whom are OCCC English professors, McCauley said.

Now in its 40th year of publication, the Absolute was designed as a platform to give aspiring artists and writers the chance to showcase their talents.

Entry for consideration is not limited to OCCC students but is open to all. Submissions in the past have come from all over the world, McCauley said.

Thirty-one works were chosen from the hundreds of submissions. Three student editors spent hours going over every entry and rating each one individually. They would then meet once a week to decide those that would be published.

“We had a lot of awesome artwork which made it really difficult,” said student editor Lauren Parker.

Parker has been published in the Absolute in the nonfiction category. She said she had a lot of fun reading all of the submissions.

“I was really impressed with how much talent there is out there,” she said.

Modern language major Lyndsie Stremlow has won two awards for her works in the Absolute.

“It’s exciting to know that my work will be seen by someone [other than] me,” Stremlow said.

Although she has been published five times, Stremlow said it still feels awesome to have her work selected.

She encourages aspiring writers to submit their works for publication.