Belt City Anthologies

An inside-out snapshot of Cleveland written by those who actually live and work there. An intimate reminder "that strength of character abounds in the Cleveland community."-- Freshwater Cleveland The past few y

“This anthology of prose, poetry, and essays is written by . . . [a] wide ethnic array of voices that truly shows the facets of Detroit life.” — Ebony Magazine A unique perspective of the Motor City, this anthology combines stories told by both longtime residents and newcomers from activists to teachers to artists to students. While Detroit has always been rich in stories, too often those stories are told back to the city by outsiders looking in, believing they can explain Detroit back to itself. As editor, Anna Clark writes in the introduction, “These are the stories we tell each other over late nights at the pub and long afternoons on the porch. We share them in coffee shops, at church social hours, in living rooms, and while waiting for the bus. These are stories full of nodding asides and knowing laughs. These are stories addressed to the rhetorical ‘you’—with the ratcheted-up language that comes with it—and these are stories that took real legwork to investigate . . . You will not find ‘positive’ stories about Detroit in this collection, or ‘negative’ ones. But you will find true stories.” Featuring essays, photographs, art, and poetry by Grace Lee Boggs, John Carlisle, Desiree Cooper, Dream Hampton, Steve Hughes, Jamaal May, Tracie McMillan, Marsha Music, Shaka Senghor, Thomas J. Sugrue, and many others. “Offers from-the-heart and on-the-ground views of life in America’s Motor City.” — The Boston Globe “A thrilling success. It gives voice to people who now live or once lived in this fascinating, tortured place, the survivors, good people who know what pain is, people who understand that the city exerts an undying pull on them.” — The Millions

An essay collection that delves into the untold stories of this historic Rust Belt city. The story of Youngstown, Ohio, often begins with iron and steel and ends in decay driven by postindustrial economics, violent mobsters, and corrupt politicians. This collection of essays aims to provide a more complete picture of one of the Rust Belt’s former steel industry strongholds through diverse, personal perspectives. More than a look at Youngstown’s industrial past or its issues with crime, this anthology explores Youngstown experiences from the Baby Doll Dances of Lowellville to the punk rock scene of the 1980s and 90s, and from the joys of Brier Hill pizza to the contemporary life of B&O Railroad. Through evocative personal essays by writers including Christopher Barzak, Rochelle Hurt, Eric Murphy, and others, readers gain a sense of the Mahoning Valley’s past, present, and future.

“Characterizing a place can be an elusive project, but The Pittsburgh Anthology is . . . diverse, surprising, eloquent, playful, scrappy, and tenacious.” — Ploughshares Pittsburgh is ever-changing—once dusted with soot from the mills, parts of the city now gleam with the polish of new technologies and little remains of what had been there before. The essays and artwork in this anthology aim for the surprising, elusive stories that capture a Pittsburgh that is in transition. Contributors run the gamut from MacArthur-award winning photographer, LaToya Ruby Frazier to 15-year-old Nico Chiodi, the book’s youngest contributor who chronicles the doings of the North Side Banjo Club. “Everyone in this book,” writes editor, Eric Boyd, “is talking about the city, the things surrounding it; all of the pieces have been created with experience, intimacy, and personality. This book, I hope, will speak to you, not at you. Because we all know this city is changing. We’re just not exactly sure what that means.” Included are contributions by Amy Jo Burns, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ben Gwin, Cody McDevitt, David Newman, and many more. “These voices are varied and quirky, some polished and professional sounding, some a little rough around the edges. But they are uniformly interesting and genuine.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “What editor Eric Boyd has chosen to do is temper all of the Most Livable City rah rah with essays, stories and poems of a grittier, more complex nature.” — Pittsburgh Magazine “This collection is stimulating for insiders and outsiders alike, a portrait Boyd has designed to be from-the-streets, warts-and-all.” —Bill O’Driscoll, PGH City Paper

This anthology of essays, poetry and photography offers an intimate view of this iconic Rust Belt city—“ one of the best books about Buffalo ever created” ( Buffalo News ). Buffalo, New York, embodies a rich and varied history encompassing power, disappointment, artistic flair, racial injustice, and spicy chicken wings—all with Niagara Falls in its backyard. Told through the eyes of more than sixty-five artists, writers, and residents, Right Here, Right Now offer an unblinking, personal portrait of this often-overlooked city, capturing both its good and bad sides. Edited by Jody K. Biehl, contributions from Wolf Blitzer, Lauren Belfer, Marv Levy, John Lombardo, Mary Ramsey, Robby Takac, and many more show why so many people love calling Buffalo home. Here, you’ll encounter: Frederick Law Olmstead’s impact on the city’s early design The pain and joy of biking through Lake Effect snow Racism in a gentrifying city and city planning initiatives The rise and fall of the Buffalo mafia A trip to a Western New York meat raffle.

An evocative collection of essays, poetry, photography and more from some of Akron, Ohio’s best authors, artists, and activists. Between 1910 and 1920, Akron, Ohio, tripled in size, making it the fastest growing city in the United States. Its period of rapid growth coincided with the expansion of the rubber and tire industry, which in turn corresponded with the automobile boom. But since the mid-1970s, industry has abandoned Akron, and the city has lost thirty-one percent of its population. Once-opulent neighborhoods are now swaths of abandoned homes, and the factories that made Akron the Rubber Capital of the World lie dormant. Edited by Jason Segedy, and bringing together established writers like Rita Dove and David Giffels with the work of emerging voices, The Akron Anthology collects essays, poems, and photographs from the writers, artists, and activists who call Akron home. Here you’ll find stories that include: The diaries of a doorman The trials and triumphs of refugees who have relocated to the city A portrait of Jamie Stillman, world-renowned effects pedal manufacturer Archie the talking snowman.

“A lively grab bag of essays, fiction and poetry that reads at times like a who’s who of contemporary Chicago writers/residents” ( Chicago Tribune ). Chicago is a city built on meat, railroads, and steel, on opportunity and exploitation. But its identity has long involved so much more than manufacturing. Today, the city continues to lure new residents from around the world, and from across a region rocked by recession and deindustrialization. Rust Belt Chicago collects essays, fiction, and poetry from more than fifty writers who speak directly to the concerns the city shares with the Midwest at large, and the elements that set it apart. With contributions from writers like Aleksandar Hemon, Kathleen Rooney, and Zoe Zolbrod, here you’ll find stories about: Buying Bread on Devon Street The Cantinas of Pilsen Bike commutes through the North Side Adventures on the El. Writing with affection, frustration, anger, and joy, the writers in this collection capture all the harmony and dissonance that define one cacophonous place.

A collection of essays, art, stories, and poetry that offer a nuanced portrait of Milwaukee in all its hope and hurt, weirdness and wonder. The Milwaukee Anthology presents a rich mosaic of one of America’s toughest zip codes. With a diverse range of perspectives, authors and artists share honest first-hand stories about Riverwest, Sherman Park, Hmong New Year’s shows, 7 Mile Fair, the Rolling Mill commemoration, and much more. Edited by Justin Kern, and with more than fifty contributors including Dasha Kelly, Pardeep Kaleka, and Michael Perry, this collection includes stories about: Redlining in the city Painting a community mural in Sherman Park Reflections after the Oak Creek Sikh Temple Shooting The city’s upstart microbrewing industry The rise of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks

“The ultimate (literary) tour guide to the neighborhoods and wild places, history and politics, culture and cuisine, music and myths of the Twin Cities” (Benjamin Percy, author of The Wilding ). In recent years, Minneapolis has become one of America’s literary powerhouses. With over fifty poems and essays, Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology collects some of the most exciting work being done in, or about, Minneapolis and the Twin Cities area. The narratives delve into the complexities of Minneapolis life—with threads that stretch back not just to Scandinavia, but across the world. This volume’s contributors include Marlon James, Shannon Gibney, Kelly Barnhill, James Wright, and many more. Collectively, they have won, or been shortlisted for, the Newbery Award, the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer, the Caldecott Award, the National Book Award, the Minnesota Book Award, among other awards. The wide-ranging stories featured here include: A tour through Prince’s Minneapolis The story of the Metrodome’s demolition A story of a Somali immigrant’s journey to Eden Prairie Eating Halva on Lake Street

“A dazzling portrait of a Midwestern city whose relationships among socio-economics, religion, civil rights, and class are consistently complex” ( Kirkus ). St. Louis is a fragmented place. It’s physically dissected by rivers, highways, walls, and fences, but it’s also a place where one’s race, class, religion, and zip code may as well be cards in a rigged poker game, where the losers face a dramatically shorter life expectancy. But despite these many divisions, St. Louis can also be a city of warmth, love, and beauty―especially in its contrasts. This collection features nearly seventy essays penned by St. Louis writers, journalists, clerics, poets, and activists including Aisha Sultan, Galen Gritts, Vivian Gibson, Maja Sadikovic, Nartana Premachandra, Sophia Benoit, Robert Langellier, Samuel Autman, Umar Lee, and more. Here you’ll learn about: The rent strike of 1969 Religious life in Pruitt-Igoe public housing Protest art in Ferguson Segregation in the Vandeventer neighborhood A church closing in Kinloch And much more.

An anthology of essays and poems by natives and transplants offering a refreshing variety of perspectives of the Kentucky city. What is Louisville’s identity in the twenty-first century? Is it the southernmost midwestern city, the midwestiest southern town, or somewhere in between? Living on the border of two regions creates a hybrid sensibility full of contradictions that can be difficult to articulate beyond “from Louisville, not Kentucky.” In this collection of evocative essays and poems by natives and transplants, The Louisville Anthology offers locals and visitors a closer look at compelling private and public spaces around town. It’s an attempt to articulate what defines Louisville beyond its most recognized cultural exports. Edited by Erin Keene, editor-in-chief at Salon.com, this is a portrait of a city caught between onward and remember-when . Here, readers will encounter stories about: ·       Louisville’s early punk scene ·       Life as a transplant in Butcherville ·       A Trip to Cave Hill Cemetery ·       A Trek to find Muhammad Ali’s Louisville ·       And more A perfect book for Louisville natives or for those looking for a more nuanced look at an often-stereotyped region of the country.

“A strong series of personal essays, historical exploration, nature writing, and photography” exploring the Indiana city ( Chicago Review of Books ). Once the second-largest city in Indiana, and home to the world’s largest steel mill, Gary has suffered greatly in the postindustrial global economy. Population numbers now approach pre–Great Depression lows. Large swathes of its land are urban prairie, and a recent survey found a quarter of its built environment is in a dilapidated or dangerous condition. But Gary is also a national center of Black culture and political power. It is home to the Indiana Dunes National Park and globally rare ecosystems. Union, community organizing, and environmental justice struggles there have profoundly shaped social and political life in the United States. Edited by Samuel A. Love, The Gary Anthology ’s contributors include essayists, poets, and journalists, but also graffiti writers, ministers, activists, organizers, and steel workers. Their insights into the city complicate our simplified narratives about violence and urban decay, offering readers the chance to hear from those who are reshaping the city from the bottom up. A nuanced look of a city that is full of everyday joys and tragedies and a vibrant rebuke to stale notions that Gary is “dead.”

Stories, poems, and essays that pay homage to the innovative spark and high-flying spirit that help the Midwest’s Gem City survive and thrive. A part of Belt’s City Anthology Series, The Dayton Anthology offers a portrait of a city recovering from the twin 2019 crises of devastating tornadoes and the mass shooting that took the lives of nine residents in the Oregon District. In over fifty essays and poems, contributors reflect on these traumas and the longer-term ills of disinvestment and decay that have plagued Dayton and the Miami Valley for years. But they also draw our attention to the resilience of the people who call Dayton home. This is the city that brought the world the Wright brothers’ invention of flight, the cash register, and the hydraulic pump. It also gave us the soaring poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and the comedy of Dave Chappelle. Edited by Shannon Shelton Miller and with contributions from Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and former Ohio Governor Bob Taft. A delightful tour of a city that never counts itself out, that captures the true diversity of Dayton’s residents.

An anthology of essays & poetry offering a reconsideration of one of America’s most misunderstood cities. Is Indianapolis just another midwestern city to fly over on the way to bigger and better destinations? Or is it, as locals know, a place where different peoples and ideals converge to create a rich cultural center? The Indianapolis Anthology showcases Naptown’s vibrancy and diversity with pieces from journalists, poets, historians, established community voices, and first-time writers. The Circle City is more than the home of the Indianapolis 500, John Dillinger, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Kurt Vonnegut, Prozac, and Wonder Bread. In these pages, you’ll find: ·       lawn chairs in the beds of pick-ups ·       Punk rock in Naptown ·       suffragists and entrepreneurs ·       cement pietàs ·       dog bakeries and yoga studios ·       red brick bungalows and war memorials ·       steakburgers and Mexican seafood; pho and sauerbraten ·       and more In other words, you'll find images from a city that is truly a cross section of today’s America. Edited by Norman “Buzz” Minnick and with contributions from Etheridge Knight, Terrance Hayes, Michael Martone, and Karen Kovacik. An insiders’ look that will make you see a great midwestern city in a brand-new light.