Geist celebrated our 35th anniversary by gathering at The Pleasant on Main Street on January 30, 2026. Stephen Osborne, Geist's co-founder, shared stories about the early days of the magazine and how they kept the well being of the planet in mind by printing issues on recyclable newsprint. He even held up an early issue featuring the only "cover girl" Geist has ever had—Mary Schendlinger, the other co-founder of the magazine. The standing ovation he received was at least three and a half decades in the making.

Contributors from the anniversary issue, 131, gave readings of their poetry and non-fiction: Erika Thorkelson, Morgan Leathem Ventura and Adèle Barclay.

EVENT and subTerrain magazines celebrated with us, as well as their writers. Erin Ashenhurst, Natasha Sanders-Kay (subTerrain), Adèle Barclay and Jade Y. Liu (EVENT) read their work to a packed room.

A monumental thank you to everyone who made it out that Friday and made the night memorable. Our hats are off to Danielle Goldenberg for baking us the best 90s-themed birthday cake we could ask for. Immense gratitude to Matt Sawatzky for capturing the event on camera with such care.

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