By Sara Ballenger

Los Altos High School student Adam Miller has a monkey on his back - The Monkey, to be exact.

The Monkey is the name of the new literary magazine Miller started at the high school.

“I began the literary magazine simply because I really like writing and graphic design,” Miller said. “At LAHS, all the publications before The Monkey have been really rigid in format, very rarely having sections devoted to unrestrained creative expression. Basically, I took what was current in design on the Web, made a layout and petitioned students for writing.”

Miller had to get approval from the school and a faculty member to sign on as his advisor. He also met with principal George Perez to discuss content and distribution.

“The school was all in all very helpful once faculty learned that the literary magazine was indeed just a literary magazine,” Miller said.

Miller sees his magazine as a way to fill the students’ need for expression and so does his faculty advisor, literature and English teacher Ann Vosovic.

“The Monkey really is a student publication. I provided a box in my classroom where students could submit their writings,” Vosovic said. “As word spread about The Monkey, kids would drop by between classes. They wanted to share their view of the world in a format of their choosing and speak unassigned and unconformed.”

Students were also inspired by the fact they could submit anonymous work, Vosovic added.

Poetry, short stories, haiku, a riddle and a cartoon appeared in the first issue of The Monkey.

The Minuteman Press in Mountain View donates the printing for the black and white newsletter format.

“I love the arts and like to help out kids who are aspiring to do these kinds of things,” said Minuteman Press owner Rob VanSteen.

Miller hopes his fellow students are just as inspired.

Currently, Miller has enough material to publish another issue. It will be up to the students at LAHS to express themselves and allow The Monkey to be their platform for that expression in order for it to survive, Miller added.

“I would love for The Monkey to be picked up by interested students, particularly those I know on yearbook or newspaper, who would have the abilities to do such a thing,” he said. “There’s hope I can find a few students to help while also finding a better way of receiving writing and artwork.”

To submit work or for more information, send an e-mail to: monkeyatla@yahoo.com.