Unique, polished, never dull -- umläut is all of these and more. Now, with the Spring 2009 release marking six years and eight issues of production, this collection of student writing, graphic art, and photography has established itself as a journal to be reckoned with.

Over the years, umläut has been funded primariily through generous grants from, among others, the Milagro Foundation and the Friends of School of the Arts (FOSOTA). Parent donations and its own sales make up the balance. Selected Creative Writing students form the staff of umläut and deal with every aspect of the book's production. They define staff roles and plan the production schedule; they solicit, select, and edit material from students throughout SOTA; they handle layout, typesetting, proofreading and production using Quark 6 on PCs; and they price, publicize, and distribute the journal itself.

For the prospective CW student, reading back issues will provide a clearer picture of the quality and variety of work done in the department. Our umläut sampler, which features a selection of past work, provides just a taste until you can download and mail this form to order an entire issue or two.

umläut is not a typical high school lit review. Its edgy, sophisticated spirit, and the glossy, trade paperback quality of its physical book, make it worthy of bookstore shelves -- where, indeed, it can often be found in San Francisco.
 

The umläut staff for 2008-2009.  From left: Sarah Maloney, Jackson Van Fleet Brown, Yaul Perez-Stable,
Otto Pippenger, editor Naomi Neal, Sasha Schmitz.  Photo by Sasha Vu, SOTA visual arts student.