With more than 800 copies distributed since its first volume was printed last month, the Leland Quarterly — a new campus literary magazine — appears to have overcome the tough odds that face most fledgling student publications.

“The reaction thus far has been very positive,” said junior Annie Wyman, an editor of the magazine. “There was a lot of excitement over our first issue, and just as much at the idea of starting up again.”

In addition to an extensive selection of fiction and poetry, the magazine includes artistic reviews, political analyses and photography.

Junior Bob Borek, founder and editor of Leland Quarterly, hopes that students will see the publication as a creative escape from their classroom lives. In contrast to other literary magazines, Borek said the Leland Quarterly aims to bring students from various academic backgrounds into the creative process.

“I think the effort being made with Leland to connect with a variety of Stanford students and draw them into the creative community is much stronger than that of previous literary magazines,” Borek said. “Rather than simply acting as a forum for creative work, Leland attempts to attract people to that forum. Our thought is that we will not simply be recording campus culture, but actively creating it.”

The project, which receives funding from the ASSU as well as both the Creative Writing and PWR Departments, was conceived last winter when then-sophomores Borek, Becca Jacobs, Fran Guan and Nick Hoy noticed the lack of writing outlets on campus.

“The magazine emerged to fill a void created by the disbandment of other established literary magazines such as Word Choice and The Mind’s Eye,” said senior Steven Tagle, a contributing writer for the magazine.

The aim was to create a publication that would explore a variety of different writing styles and subjects.

“The goal of putting several different types of writing alongside each other is that someone who is attracted to an article on, say, rhetoric in political campaigns, might also stumble across a poem that they never would have read otherwise, but can relate to and enjoy,” Borek said.

Wyman attributes much of the magazine’s appeal to this broad range of topics.

“Leland’s goal is to be ‘general interest’ for every smart kid at Stanford, not just the ones who like short stories and poetry,” Wyman said. “The Mind’s Eye and many other literary magazines are showcases of creative work, a useful function, but to me, Leland signifies something a little different. It’s an attempt to communicate, not just exhibit.”

Literary magazines at Stanford have experienced a lack of funding and submissions in the past, but the founders of Leland said they are confident that the wide variety of writing opportunities will prevent these problems.

“The writing community at Stanford is exceptionally strong, and finding content for Leland should never be difficult,” Borek said. “Additionally, the variety of writing in Leland along with the fact that it comes out only once a quarter allows the magazine to be highly selective with the material that gets submitted.”

Eavan Boland, director of the Creative Writing Department, acknowledged the difficulties of running a student literary magazine, but said she believed in the Leland Quarterly’s ability to make an impact on campus.

“Success is a variable in terms of student magazines,” Boland said. “But if by success we mean bringing something vital and energetic and full of talent and interest into the Stanford community, then I have no doubt at all this will be a success.”

While the creative writing community tends to get overshadowed by Stanford’s strong emphasis on science and engineering, staff and faculty associated with the Leland Quarterly are confident the magazine will shed light on the literary community and opportunities on campus.

“The creative writing community at Stanford is one of the University’s best-kept secrets,” Tagle said. “Many techie majors take creative writing classes because if fulfills a basic hunger for storytelling, a need that can’t be satisfied in any other way.”

Boland said she was less concerned with the visibility of the department than its availability.

“I want students to know they can come to creative writing,” she said. “They can take workshops. They can learn the craft — whichever one it is. And that their dreams of writing and expression are just a short distance away on this campus.”