Ellipsis, Binghamton University’s newest undergraduate literary journal, will release its first issue next week, joining the ranks of published works on campus.

The editors will hold a launch party at 8 p.m. Tuesday in room 252 of the Old University Union, where copies of the issue will be sold for $1.

Prior to Ellipsis, the only literary journal on campus has been the semi-annual undergraduate- and graduate-edited journal, Harpur Palate, which has been in print since 2000.

“Our goal is to be the voice of the undergraduate literary community,” Marissa Fielstein, president of Ellipsis and a sophomore majoring in English, said. “We want to be a medium for undergraduates to express themselves and publish their work.”

Ellipsis is divided into three sections: fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry. The journal will also publish photography and artwork submitted by undergraduate students.

Fielstein said that Andrei Guruianu, a doctoral student in English and creative writing, is partially responsible for the creation of Ellipsis.

“He was the brainchild behind Ellipsis; he brought us together and then we worked with the SA [Student Association] and got it chartered,” Fielstein said. She added that she was one of about 10 students in Guruianu’s creative writing class who came together to start the journal.

Ellipsis was chartered at the end of the fall 2008 semester and its staff spent the spring 2009 semester obtaining resources and accepting submissions.

“The whole process took about a year before we had enough money, submissions and enough of a following to feel confident enough to print it,” Fielstein said.

At the launch party, there will be an open mic event, where published writers will read pieces of their work. In addition, any writers, poets, comedians, musicians and other performers are invited to take the microphone and show off their work.

Joseph Monte, executive editor of Ellipsis and a junior majoring in English, said he hopes to be able to publish an issue at least once a year.

“Ideally it will be out once a semester, but we’re still pretty new and so we’re working out how many times we’ll issue it, but ideally twice a year,” he said. “For now, we’ll start out at once a year.”

Currently, Ellipsis operates with seven to eight editors who comprise the body of the magazine. They have no full-time writers on staff and accept work only on a submission basis.

Fielstein wishes to expand the journal’s staff in future semesters and hopes to table in the New University Union to gain support.

Students interested in sending submissions or joining the journal’s staff are encouraged to contact Marissa Fielstein at mfielst1@binghamton.edu.