Belt Bets: Chicago, July 24-30
Friday, July 24 Last chance to see Black River Falls, the acclaimed new play by Curious Theater Branch's Bryn Magnus exploring teen [...]
Belt Bets: Cleveland, July 24-30
Friday, July 24 Attend the Movement for Black Lives Convening Conference, held at Cleveland State University through the weekend. Saturday, [...]
All Aboard the Red Line Greenway
Standing atop the viaduct bridge that carries commuter trains between downtown Cleveland and the city’s west side, Lennie Stover stoops down and fishes a rusty piece of metal from the gravel next to the tracks.
Of Rumor and Riot
In late summer of 1967, waves of rumors moved through metropolitan Detroit, announcing a series of race divisions across the city and between city and suburb.
Belt Industry Tour: Cleveland
Belt is excited to announce a guided and up-close look at some of Cleveland's historically significant industrial locations. Celebrate Cleveland's rich manufacturing history with the inaugural Belt Industry Tour.
The Dark, Violent, Grotesque, Drug-Induced Whatever
I’m a Patrick Michael Finn fan. This, unfortunately, is a lonely thing to be. His output is modest: One novella, A Martyr for Suzy Kosasovitch, and a story collection, From the Darkness Right Under Our Feet, both from small presses.
Readers’ Corner: Marie’s Golden Cue
Marie’s Golden Cue, on the corner of Montrose and Troy, endures in a 1930s deco storefront with glossy white terra cotta tiles. The phrase: "Cue Stick Repair Shop, Professional Workmanship," appears on the picture window.
Belt Bets: Cleveland, July 17-23
Sometimes it seems like finding out what's happening in town requires an advanced degree in Confusing Website Listings Pages. So we select just a few things per week. Relax & enjoy!
Can Detroit Save White People?
OK, so, all you white people coming from Brooklyn (or L.A., or Portland, or Austin, or Chicago, or London, or whatever) to Detroit looking to “save” yourself: What, exactly, are you saving yourself from?
Flipping Tin: Searching for Ohio’s Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes
On a hot, wet morning in May, I jumped into a pickup truck with Brett Rodstrom, VP of Eastern Field Operations for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and headed out to look for Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes.
A Belt Q&A With Eric Lundgren
The Facades is about the best and the worst of the Midwest. Eric Lundgren’s 2013 novel takes place in a fictional Trude, a hard-boiled, moth-bitten metropolis bounded by interstates and a high-modern retirement home.
Readers’ Corner: Bridging Past with Present
My favorite Rust Belt location? The bridge leading into the former U.S. Steel McDonald Works, a finishing mill where three generations of my family members worked shifts...