Pub Club is a new club on Drury’s campus that was introduced last semester by sponsor Dr. Patrick Moser. The club is designed as a resource for students seeking to publish their work, which can encompass anything from academic papers and essays to creative work like poetry and fiction. This month Pub Club is hosting their first flash fiction contest.

How to enter

Pub Club’s February fiction poster. Photo via Taylor Stanton.

The contest will entail writing a story of 700 words or fewer, based on a photograph of a man and a woman. Each entry must use one of these two opening lines: “Is this the right time to tell him?” or “I still remember that night.”

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place winners, and winning stories will be published on the Pub Club website. The deadline for this contest is midnight Feb. 22. Submissions can be sent to to pubclub@drury.edu.

Whether you are a seasoned writer or a beginner, this contest provides a low-stakes way to get your writing published.

“This is going to be our first big event this semester, but we’re open next year to have a couple of speakers come, hopefully at least one per semester,” stated Sarah Merlenbach, president of the club. She is excited to have guests visit Pub club who can help students on the path to publication.

Regarding the guest speakers, Rachel Bortnik, a Pub Club officer, added that one speaker will be an agent, while the other will be an editor.

Publish and celebrate

To announce the winners of the contest, the club is planning a “writing jam.”

“We want basically anybody who likes writing to come hang out and share their stuff. We were going to use that to announce whoever our winners are, and have games and writing exercises, and food. Of course, [there will] always [be] free food,” said Merlenbach.

The main purpose of Pub Club is to provide support for students who want to be published writers. Pub Club has a website which they will use to publish students’ work, as well as resources students can use for publishing their work off campus.

Merlenbach stated, “One of our main projects is that we are running a site that’s both an online publication venue and also a resource provider, so we’re going to be doing different goals and […] different resources that students and the community can go to.”

Pub Club is a way for curious students to find resources and support for publishing their writing. The Mirror has also recently started accepting submissions for students’ creative work, from cartoons, comics, drawings, and more. If you have questions or want to submit your work to appear in The Mirror, just send an email to mirror@drury.edu.

Article written by Lauren Barclay.