Map for a Forgotten Valley, by Christopher Barzak

Barzak’s series of creative nonfiction pieces explores the contemporary and the remembered landscapes of Youngstown. They appeared in Issue 007 of the New Haven Review, which you can download from the site.

Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City, by Gordon Young

Fifteen years after he left, San Francisco journalist Gordon Young returned to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, hoping to contribute to the city’s revitalization by buying and fixing up a home in a deteriorating neighborhood. That goal turned out to be harder to achieve than Young anticipated, but his memoir provides a thoughtful look at Flint’s history and the challenges of economic development and renewal for Rust Belt communities.

The Hard Way on Purpose, by David Giffels

Giffels looks back over his history with Akron, remembering the exciting potential of abandoned downtown buildings as well as the challenges deindustrialized communities face in redefining their identities.

Detroit City Is the Place To Be , by Mark Binelli

Detroit native Binelli returned to his hometown to chronicle its decline but also efforts to revitalize the city. His journey takes readers from abandoned factories to street-corner blues concerts to art installations.

Belt Publishing — Online magazine and anthologies

Publisher Anne Trubek has worked with  writers across the Rust Belt to publish an online magazine,   Beltmag, and a series of books featuring the varied voices of the region. It has published city anthologies focused on Akron, Buffalo, Cleveland, Flint, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, and Youngstown, among others, but the press has also published books that focus on the politics of the Rust Belt and Appalachia, including a new book about the 2018 West Virginia teachers’ strike. It is also republishing some midwestern classics, with books by Sherwood Anderson, Ida Tarbell, and several others.