The decaying cities of the post-industrial Midwest can sometimes seem like a museum of things America used to make: cars, refrigerators, steel, television.
But if a start-up in Cleveland gets its way, the region may help rebuild the market for another endangered product â€" long-form magazine journalism.
Belt Magazine, an weekly online magazine of essays and reportage that officially began publishing this week, is dedicated to exploring the reawakened regional identity symbolized by corner taverns, abandoned industrial landscapes, and unfancy beer, while also giving its writers enough space to push past the Shinola-like clichés.
“I cringe at words like ‘authentic,’ †Anne Trubek, the magazine’s editor in chief, said by telephone. “But the rust belt aesthetic isn’t about the ephemeral global economy, it’s about boots on the ground and things hidden in grandma’s attic. We want to explore that.â€
Belt is an outgrowth of “Rust Belt Chic,†a self-published anthology of essays about Cleveland that Ms. Trubek, a writer-in-residence at Oberlin College, and Richey Piiparinen, a local urbanist, put together “on a whim†last summer. (The title was taken from an acerbic comment by Joyce Brabner, the widow of the unofficial Cleveland cartoon-laureate Harvey Pekar, who wasn’t very happy about all the “vampiric†out-of-towners singing the praises of the city’s down-and-out charms.)
Assembled in about three weeks, “Rust Belt Chic,†sold about 3,500 copies, and drew enough response to convince the pair that there was a market for a magazine. They raised nearly $10,000 in seed money, mostly via Kickstarter. (Most writers are paid.) Ms. Trubek said she was about to sign a partnership deal with two investors, and is also in talks about a paid mobile app, as well as a brand expansion in Detroit.
In addition to shorter commentary and personal essays, Belt’s inaugural issue includes a long reported story on the 70-year history of a Cleveland-based literary prize dedicated to books about racism (still the only such prize in the country, the author claims), as well as an essay by Alissa Nutting, the author of the well-reviewed new novel “Tampa,†on her love-hate relationship with the city’s weather. (Yes, she used to live in Florida.)
If Belt, like the anthology, has few nationally known contributors, Ms. Trubek said, it’s because the city historically hasn’t had a literary scene to match the rich arts community fostered by institutions like the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Orchestra.
A few famous writers, like Langston Hughes, spent time there. (The proposed demolition of the derelict house where he once lived became a cause celebre a few years ago.) But Hart Crane, born in Cleveland but famous for writing about Brooklyn, may epitomize the local literary spirit, Ms. Trubek said wryly. (She grew up in Madison, Wis.)
“He’s a real Cleveland poet, because he was conflicted about it,†she said.
As models for Belt, Ms. Trubek cited the Oxford American, the award-winning magazine of Southern culture, and This Land Press, a Tulsa-based Web and print publication that offers fiction and poetry alongside hard-hitting investigations on topics like the city founder’s involvement with the Ku Klux Klan or the early life of the former Pfc. Bradley Manning, who grew up in Oklahoma.
If nothing in Belt’s first batch of articles sticks a sharp needle in the eye of local pride, Ms. Trubek said the magazine aimed to color well outside the lines of both of civic boosterism and voyeuristic “ruin porn.â€
She cited a long forthcoming article on the roiling local debate over whether to demolish the city’s many abandoned buildings.
“It’s a depressing piece,†she said. “Cleveland doesn’t come off well at all.â€
Cleveland Plain Dealer article on anthology:
http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2012/10/rust_belt_chic_warms_to_scruff.html
Itzkoff on Pekar:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/arts/design/05pekar.html?pagewanted=all
NYT review of “Tampaâ€:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/books/alissa-nuttings-tampa-and-more.html?pagewanted=a
Langston Hughes house in Cleveland:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/the-next-page-where-langston-hughes-fueled-his-muse-cleveland-215479/
Oxford American:
http://www.oxfordamerican.org
This Land:
https://thislandpress.com
This Land’s KKK story:
http://thislandpress.com/04/18/2012/tate-brady-battle-greenwood/
This Land’s Manning story:
http://thislandpress.com/02/08/2011/private-manning-and-the-making-of-wikileaks-2/
article about “Ruin Pornâ€:
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2012/01/psychology-ruin-porn/886/
