About

A community of word lovers, that’s who we are - the team behind Off Tangent, the first middle school, student-run, magazine. It never fails to amaze us how a small group of writer and artist can bond over their common passions and goals to work tirelessly and create beautiful products.

 Being in a community who loves reading and writing makes you feel at home. It’s almost like we are united by one single, long piece of thread that runs through our heart. Our love for words, the thread that binds us, is what makes us a family.

  The first day of the activity we were all shy and nervous as we stepped into Ms.Paula’s comfortable and inspiring classroom. We had no idea how much work we had ahead of us or how big a project this was going to become. We first defined what a literary magazine was as many people thought we were going to be writing a newspaper type of thing. After the first few meetings filled with introductions and explanations, that is when the magic started.

  Our story begins in 2016, the year we published our very first issue. Once we defined what our literary magazine was going to be, that helped us understand what we really wanted to become. We knew that we were much more than just an ordinary magazine. We knew that we wanted art, wanted design, wanted something poetic. We wanted a literary magazine that was home to stories, opinions, creativity and voice. We had a unique task that has never been carried out in UWCSEA East before; showcasing the writing and artistic talent of our Middle School.

  Also, before starting the process of creating a literary magazine we had to understand what it meant to be trustworthy, respectful, loyal and have integrity. Our team had to be respectful of people’s work and make sure that people felt comfortable submitting and sharing their pieces. We valued all the art in the magazine and treated it with respect. Integrity was the key. Making the literary magazine was really magical, from being a stack of stories to creating the most precious thing on your desk.

   We then thought of our name, OFF TANGENT! Where did this come from, you ask? Well, a lot of time was spent picking a name. In fact, there were quite a few names floating around, The Scene, East Lit Up etc… And then, out of nowhere, Ms.Paula suddenly said Off Tangent! We all looked at her weird not knowing what it meant. This is what she replied, “Off Tangent, you know, we are quirky and unique, not mainstream”. Somehow, all of us seemed to take a liking to it and agreed on it.

    So "Off Tangent" it was. And is. Many don't appreciate the weeks and weeks of hard work is put into making the magazine! Creating submission forms for writing, photography and art, going through and choosing pieces, emailing writers, artists and photographers,  designing an original cover, corresponding with a publisher etc… There were so many leadership opportunities where people got to step up and take different challenges on as Mr.Raisdana and Ms.Paula had a lot of faith in us and let us take the lead.

  This blog and the physical copies of the magazine are physical proof of all our hard work and are the evidence that we have achieved our goal. We hope that you can enjoy and appreciate all the stories, mages and help us to build a community that understands and prizes the power of going Off Tangent.