While many university creative-arts journals showcase only the work of their students, inclusion is a distinguishing point of pride for our publication. The entire SAU community is eligible to submit their creative work to Quercus. Staff, administrators, faculty across all disciplines, alumni spanning decades, and, of course, current students are encouraged to contribute their work for the campus community to admire. 

 

Professor Emeritus and former SAU English Professor Carl Herzig founded Quercus and served as its faculty advisor for 30 years. What began as a print journal featuring only creative writing expanded over the years to include visual art. Former SAU Art Professor and frequent Quercus contributor Les Bell '72 drew an oakleaf for the cover art and a simple acorn for the back cover of the first issue (Quercus is the Latin word for the oak genus). Though the aesthetic of each issue varies year to year with our student editors, we keep key stylistic features consistent, and we value contemporary literary and artistic quality while continuing to cherish our roots. 

 

In 2023, Quercus became a fully online creative-arts journal. Thanks to the combined talents and dedication of our student editors and designers, the journal has branched out to include audio-visual content alongside the poetry, prose, and visual art we celebrate.