Jennifer Howard is a former writer and editor for The Washington Post and a former senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Her work has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Slate, Humanities magazine, VQR, the collection D.C. Noir, and many other publications. She lives in Washington, DC.
How I Found Belt
I was a fan of Anne Trubek’s work long before she founded Belt, and I share her belief that books don’t have to be doorstops to pack a punch. Belt publishes sleek books that contribute to bigger conversations, and it can be nimbler and more inclusive than a lot of bigger presses.
Recommended Titles
As a writer, I’m always looking for work that teaches me something new about how to build a persuasive argument and structure a narrative that pulls readers along. I’m especially interested in learning from other women who work in the nonfiction space. Publishing a book with Belt put me in the company of some of the writers I admire most, including Elizabeth Catte, whose Belt books on Appalachia and the history of eugenics in Virginia have transformed my understanding of those places; Amanda Kolson Hurley, whose Radical Suburbs expanded my limited view of life on the edges of American cities; and Jennifer Niesslein, whose essays on the problematic pull of nostalgia (Dreadful Sorry) really hit home for me at this nostalgia-prone stage of life.
Where to Find Me
Readers can find me on Twitter (@JenHoward) or sign up for my newsletter: https://jenniferhoward.substack.com/