It’s been ten years.

That’s why everything looks a little different today—because we at the post calvin, like most humans, follow a base-ten number system, which causes certain anniversaries (the ones with zeros on the end) to feel significant. And it is significant. You only have to remember what you were doing in 2013 to feel how long that is.

Ten years ago, the post calvin was just an idea, a place where amateur writers (and a couple of professional ones, too) in their twenties could express themselves once a month in 600 to 800 words (and sometimes more or less than that). Since then, its originators have all moved on, aged past the parameters that Abby, Josh, and Will set out at its founding. But the post calvin is still here.

In that decade, we’ve been the home of sixty-four regular writers, some who stayed until their thirtieth birthdays and some who left us after a few brief months. Twenty-six of our months have been themed, though only a few as memorable as “Sex and the Church.” Our 29ths, 30ths, and 31sts have hosted 185 guest writers. Our 1.2 million readers have left us 4,381 comments, including some that we were forced to delete, because of you know why. Spam bots have left us 948 comments, mostly about exciting opportunities for cheap CBD and online casinos. Eighteen current and former writers helped fund our new art, and one talented writer & artist created it. And in the midst of all that, we’ve published over 3,525 individual pieces of creative nonfiction. Some are exceptionally good. Some are not as earth-shattering but are still worth a read. Some we even put into books.

By most metrics, those numbers are small. They represent that merest corner of this vast digital catalog of human experience. And, given that vastness, it’s pretty incredible that the post calvin is here at all. That our writers are here, whether they’re skewering an injustice with anger and surety or explaining why they just really love RuPaul’s Drag Race. That our readers are here, whether it’s just our grandma or seemingly an entire denomination.

Thank you for that.

This year, we’re bending one of our rules (it is our birthday, after all). We’ve asked our writers past to come back for some of this year’s guest posts, so you’ll be seeing some familiar bylines in the months to come—even some who are older than thirty.

And you’ll see some new ones too. Look forward to it. We are.

the post calvin Editorial Board
Alex Johnson
Annaka Koster
Josh Parks

Annaka Koster

Annaka Koster (’18) graduated from Calvin with majors in English and history and the University of Michigan a couple years later as a “master” of information science. She’s now a public librarian in her hometown. Outside the library, Annaka can be found doing a sundry of nerdy things, including reading comics, playing board games, and mourning her pet snail, Clive.