Belt Magazine Becomes Rust Belt Magazine While Getting a New Publishing Partner.
By Ed Simon
This September, Belt Magazine is getting both a make-over and a new partner in publication. Thanks to a grant from the Institute for Nonprofit News, Belt Magazine’s website will get a long overdue redesign, as well as a new logo. As part of that initiative, we’re going to be rebranding ourselves as well, returning to our roots as Rust Belt Magazine (same URL though). Additionally, we’re going to alter the way in which we publish, moving over to an “issue model” of publication whereby a number of articles will be published at the same time on a regular schedule once a month, with a notice of publication sent through The Dispatch. This model of publication will allow for us to be more thoughtful and considered in how we publish, the sorts of stories that we cover, and making sure that we dedicate time to make sure that we provide the best editorial oversight that we can.
In that same month, the Pittsburgh Review of Books (or PRoB) will begin publishing intelligent cultural criticism and literary analysis intended for the reading public. A venture of the English Department at Carnegie Mellon University, PRoB will be a publication in the vein of other award-winning magazines and sites such as The Atlantic, Harpers, The New Yorker, The Believer, Literary Hub, and The Millions.
PRoB will be both in Pittsburgh (and the Rust Belt) and of the wider world; a means of introducing the region’s vibrant literary community into national conversations as well as bringing those conversations here. The publication is an official media sponsor for this year’s Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures “Ten Evenings” series and will publish profiles and interviews with every featured writer, including Jill Lepore, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Michael Chabon. Additionally, PRoB is in the process of organizing programing with other cultural institutions in the city.
In the meantime, Belt will be on a summer hiatus while we retool the site and plan for launching alongside PRoB. During that time you’ll still be able to keep in touch with the editors.
There are a number of prestigious publications associated with metropolitan areas that publish a wide variety of authors offering smart, incisive, and groundbreaking criticism, but they’re also crucial in enlivening the literary life of their respective cities, such as The Boston Review, The Chicago Review of Books, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and most-of-all The New York Review of Books. With the inauguration of The Pittsburgh Review of Books, the editors have signaled their firm belief that it’s time for Pittsburgh to have a similar publication.
