Most Uni students are vaguely familiar with Unique, Uni’s literary magazine. Students who have been at Uni for at least a year know about the little booklet of prose, poetry, and art that everyone receives at the end of the year. They might also have seen the Unique posters hung up around the hallways, or their bulletin board on one of the stairwell landings. Unique was even mentioned in this year’s awards ceremony – four Uni students received the Rosemary Laughlin award, whose entries are determined by submissions to Unique.

However, while most Uni students have heard about Unique, not many of them know much about what Unique is and does. What does it mean to be Uni’s literary magazine?

According to Nika Cooper, editor of Unique, Unique is a club that reviews art, poetry, and prose in order to compile them into one yearly literary magazine. All work is submitted by Uni students, while the magazine itself is made solely by Unique’s editors and assistant editors.

The club currently meets on Tuesday lunch in the Latin room (Room 211), with Dr. Majerus serving as their sponsor. They review submissions on a weekly basis. The editors receive submissions throughout the week through email (unihigh.unique@gmail.com), and those submissions are shown to the members of the club (anonymously). After looking over the piece, the club members will comment on it, offering both compliments and constructive criticism. At the end, everyone votes on what they want to do with the piece – accept it, send it back for revision, or reject it outright. At the end of the year, new Unique editors are selected, based on their participation in Unique and passion for what Unique does.

Another thing decided at the end of the year is the theme for the magazine (based on the submissions that year), and all the accepted pieces are reviewed again to see if they fit that theme. This year’s theme is obscure Illinois towns.

Unique also has a bulletin board on the south side of the school, on the south-side landing between the first and second floors. It was put together by senior Vicente Aldunate, another editor of Unique. The bulletin board showcases submissions from past years, and is there to draw awareness about the club.

Any Uni students can participate in Unique through joining the club or submitting a piece. This year’s free-of-charge magazine is expected to be distributed sometime later this week.