the post calvin

After three years of publishing daily pieces online, the post calvin is proud to present the post calvin*: selected essays*. Editors Josh deLacy, Will Montei, Debra Rienstra, and Abby Zwart have gathered suggestions from writers and chosen pieces that represent the heart and soul of the post calvin.

the post calvin is a daily online journal that features twenty-eight regular writers. Each writer is responsible for one day of the month, and guest writers ll the remaining two or three days. ree years in, the post calvin has featured more than one hundred writers—all Calvin alumni, and all under thirty.

This new anthology, featuring eighty-eight pieces arranged into fourteen sections, highlights both the diversity of topics covered on the website as well as the common threads tying them all together. “I am a quilt of a person,” reads the epigraph to the first section (“Growing Pains”). Indeed, each writer weaves a picture of twenty-something life through their writing, describing new love or a new job, adventures with potato salad or with potty training. Part of what makes the post calvin unique is this range of writers who are willing and able to write beautifully about any number of topics. Observations about technology lie next to ones about nature, a movie review follows a story about sex.

It may seem from the outset that perhaps an alma mater and a similar age are all these writers
have in common, but the real draw here is the connections perceptive readers will start to make. Be it Budapest or Kentucky, they all travel (“Departures”). Be it students or a congregation, they all teach (“Classroom 101” and “Nine to Five”). Be it depression or alcoholism, they all struggle (“Gray Matters”). Be it a tour guide or a teacher, they all know some incredible people (“Portrait Gallery”).

With meticulous book design by Josh deLacy and beautiful illustrations by Maria Smilde, the post calvin*: selected essays* is a book that any lover of Calvin College, millennials, or good writing can be proud to read and share.