Best of the Rust Belt

Edited by Anne Trubek
Introduction by Anna Clark

July 2, 2024

The best personal essays from a contested region, from Belt Publishing’s ten years as a press.

Many have an opinion on what the Rust Belt is. It’s the "blue wall," "Trump country," the "flyover states," or the “real America.” Or maybe, as our own president has said, it's a place that no longer exists called by a name that has long outlived its usefulness. But undeniably, there’s something that connects the region. Maybe the question isn’t what defines that connection, but who.

Over the past ten years, Belt Publishing has been putting out books that prioritize the voices of the many people who live here. We’ve collected our favorite writing from our dozens of anthologies, from Pittsburgh to Gary, Chicago to St. Louis, Milwaukee to Cleveland, and more, documenting growing up in segregated St. Louis and elucidating the coded Islamophobia of southern Michigan. Featuring LaToya Ruby Frazier, Connie Schultz, Brian Broome, Megan Stielstra, Vivian Gibson, Aaron Foley, Kathleen Rooney, Sarah Kendzior, Phil Christman, and more. 

ISBN: 9781953368706 

Advance praise: 

"I am not from the Rust Belt, but this wonderful collection makes me feel as if I am—or should want to be. The power of America is in its places, and these Rust Belt writers have made the culture, the personalities, and the vividness of a place memorable to readers from any point on the globe." —James Fallows, co-author of national bestseller Our Towns