Support independent writing by and for the Rust Belt. Become a member today. »
EXCERPT
Pink Piano
Crayons were my birthright. Crayons were in my blood. The blood of family lore matched American Crayon’s most powerful primary red crayon in every box. Crayons sent me down the road to adulthood.
Pink Piano
Crayons were my birthright. Crayons were in my blood. The blood of family lore matched American Crayon’s most powerful primary red crayon in every box. Crayons sent me down the road to adulthood.
ESSAY
Exiles Living in a Church
It certainly isn’t cool, or edgy, or funny–the things people say about what it must be like to live in a church. It’s relentless.
Exiles Living in a Church
It certainly isn’t cool, or edgy, or funny–the things people say about what it must be like to live in a church. It’s relentless.
Independent, context-driven regional writing. Support Belt Magazine today. »
More Stories
Trent Reznor’s Conflicted Rust Belt Legacy
Trent Reznor never mentioned the Johnstown Flood in his interviews on MTV, though he would’ve learned about it the same way any other Rust Belt boy does...He never mentioned that he was a rich boy surrounded by a world his ancestors got tricked into helping destroy.
Pheasants of Detroit
Because of its abundant open space, Detroit has a thriving ring-necked pheasant population. But what does coming development mean for this iconic bird and its future in the Motor City?
Stories Told Around a Campfire (That No Longer Exists)
Maybe that’s not enough of a story for some people to understand (or celebrate) the hunting instinct. What I know is my family has depended on it, right alongside the understory and the herds.
In Pittsburgh, Local Journalism Is Worth the Fight
Having two major news sources in the city owned by notoriously anti-worker management can’t be good. For local journalism to be good, local journalism jobs need to be good.
Painting the Past on the Ohio River
You can put your finger on a map and trace it down the Ohio River. From Steubenville to Paducah, it’s nearly a thousand miles, an artery pumping through the heart of America.
James Purdy’s Outrages Against the Establishment
Purdy’s harshest words were consistently aimed at the literary apparatus that he felt was inherently unable to appreciate his formally deliberate but thematically audacious fiction.
Cincinnati Has a Bridge to Sell You
A massive new highway project in the Queen City could reclaim valuable downtown acres and right a decades-old racial injustice, but only if leaders act.
Carrie Furnace’s Blood, Sweat, and Fire
These hulking behemoths with their slag and hot metal are rarely described as beautiful, but yet I am drawn to them over and over again.
In the Voice of the Prophet
An excerpt from Daniel Torday's novel The 12th Commandment, available January 17 from St. Martin's Press. [...]
Unspooling the Cassette Tape in Springfield, Missouri
The National Audio Company is keeping the cassette tape —and tape culture —alive in the [...]
Not Without Its Sweetness
A poem by Andrew Taylor-Troutman.
Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.
From the Archives
On Stony Island Avenue: Boulevard of Black Culture
Ayana Contreras on the creative legacy of the Chicago street.
Wisconsin’s Black Farming Tradition
Since the mid-1800s, agriculture has created a path to agency and freedom for Black people in Wisconsin.
Recipe: Rudy’s Humble Paczki
A Fat Tuesday tradition.
Recipe: Slovenian Sauerkraut Soup (Jota)
Feeding the holiday spirit.
Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.
Support independent, context-driven regional writing.