Editor’s note: the following is a call for submissions for a new anthology from our partners at Belt Publishing.

Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays about Sioux Falls in 2021/22 as part of its City Anthology series. South Dakota’s largest city has never been the focus of a major anthology, but as a rapidly-growing Midwestern hub, which has been named one of the nation’s best places to live, it’s time this city received its day in the sun. On the Western edge of the Midwest—existing at the intersection of Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota—Sioux Falls has a stronger agrarian center than other cities featured in Belt’s City Anthology series. It also has strong features to be explored including:

  • The centrality of the Big Sioux River and farming to the city’s identity
  • The rise and fall (and rise again) of downtown
  • Universities, past and present (Augustana, USF, and Columbus College)
  • Blood Run, burial mounds, and life before white settlers
  • How World War II fundamentally changed the city
  • Pettigrew House
  • Banking, breweries, and health care
  • The state Pen and how it ended up in Sioux Falls
  • Prominent musicians, writers, and artists (Bob Dylan, Tim O’Brien, and others)
  • Morrel’s and the prominence of a meatpacking city
  • Queen City and Falls Park
  • Immigrants and Sioux Falls (Lost Boys, Hispanic/Latinx)
  • How winter influences our city
  • Art (and folk art) like Mr. Bendo, David, Sculpture Walk, the Potato Man, Battleship Park, and the Arc of Dreams
  • Joe Foss Air Field
  • Stories in danger of being lost (Joyland Park, etc)
  • The Birdcage and sports
  • Building the Cathedral
  • Infamous murders and crimes
  • Prohibition in Sioux Falls and John Dillinger
  • Sioux Falls as the Divorce Capital of America
  • Natural disasters (blizzards, ice storms, floods, and tornadoes)
  • City of Parks: Falls Park, Seney Island, some of the best bike trails in America

We are looking for stories, reflections, poems, photos, and essays from the city and surrounding locales that put Sioux Falls in perspective for longtime residents, newcomers, and outsiders. Submissions can be related to a specific place, event (personal or historical), or personage, and must take place in or around the city. All contributions should evoke the feel of the city in a meaningful way.

Authors can submit multiple proposals. We will accept previously published pieces, but the author must include the original publication information and have full rights to the piece. Accepted submissions will likely be edited in coordination with the author.

The anthology will be edited by Sioux Falls residents and writers Patrick Hicks and Jon Lauck.

Proposals are due by December 1, 2020. If a proposal is accepted for inclusion in the anthology, the final essay/submission will be due June 1, 2021.

To submit an entry, please:

— Include author’s full name and contact information (phone, email, address and 3-4 sentence bio).

— Indicate where the author lives/where the piece takes place.

— Write “SUBMISSION” on the subject line.

— Nonfiction essays should be between 500 and 3000 words. Space permitting, we may publish longform pieces over 4,000 words but please query first.
— Poetry should be related to Sioux Falls.
— High quality photos (color, b+w) will also be considered,

Submit all entries and questions to: [email protected]

SPONSORS: Interested in underwriting or sponsoring this book? Email Publisher Anne Trubek at [email protected].