We are a collection of Calvin University graduates who couldn’t stop writing when the classes were done. Since 2013, we’ve explored these restless post-diploma years in the best way we know how.

About Us

“So what are your plans for next year?” Every college graduate dreads this question: a constant, almost liturgical reminder that it’s now time to carve our own path forward in the world rather than follow an already marked one. How do we justify the time and the money and the stress of our educations? How do we sort the missteps and mistakes from the things worth holding on to? What do we do with our dreamy goals and lofty theologies of vocation when the rejection letters pile up and we can’t even get a call back for an interview?

the post calvin is a way and a place to document, catalog, reflect on, and see anew the years after graduation: the menial jobs, the media we can’t stop thinking about, the broken hearts and the rings on our fingers, the adventures we can finally take (if not afford), the friendships that evolve and betray and reunite, the emerging identities that constantly rewrite our mental memoirs. Twenty-somethings with a shared alma mater come together across continents and careers and life-stages to share the craft of writing: the slow-but-not-steady struggle to express the good, the bad, the inspiring, the confounding.

Artist’s statement

Writing for the post calvin is foraging.

I know, because I’ve been a natural ink maker and a writer for tpc alongside each other now. The processes are both honed through endless experimentation, constantly collecting and taking notes, and not being afraid to fail. It’s about getting your feet on the ground and looking where other people wouldn’t dare venture. It’s about knowing how to honor stories and harvests. You have to walk different, listen different, and dedicate month after month to continuing to search and find.

The writers that work with the post calvin are the best foragers I know.

The colors here dotted around the site are all found in Grand Rapids, foraged from local woodlands, and boiled down from collections of petals, rocks, berries, and more. Each inkblot is a combination of experimental pairings, getting unique (often non-recreatable) colors as unique as the tpc writers and the characters they bring to us each month, year after year. And while I don’t think we currently have any bagpipers on staff, there is a depth of experience and willingness to explore to this collection of humans that I couldn’t begin to cover it with the cast of characters drawn above.

Happy tenth anniversary, the post calvin!

Gabrielle Eisma (’22)

Special thanks to:

Special thanks to:

Abby Zwart, Josh deLacy, Will Montei   founders, website, former content curators

Debra Rienstra   Advisory board

Gabrielle Eisma   Artwork

Alissa Goudswaard   Calvin Writers Recommend

The views and opinions expressed in the media, articles, or comments on this site are those of the authors or contributors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views or opinions held by the editorial staff, or by Calvin University or any of its faculty.