Photo by Beth Piwkowski

__________ will save us.

If you answered “rust belt literature,” you probably stand an equally good chance of being right as if you had guessed casino gambling, or a new convention center, or a certain precocious athlete who will remain nameless. Reading books isn’t cool and never will be, and if you’re waiting for anything literary to jump start the economy well you might as well just go jump start yourself off the nearest overpass.

You’re probably a little more right if you answered “getting our certain ethnic heads out of our certain ethnic asses and realizing that no one thing is ever going to save us.” Not coincidentally, that’s why we keep plugging along with this homespun, rinkydink operation: if we’re contributing in some small way to any kind of cultural renaissance, great, but if not, we might as well have something to do while we wait for the last one out to turn off the lights.

In this issue we present a range of previously unpublished regional fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and photography, as well as a review of the recent Rust Belt novel Say Nice Things About Detroit. And maybe something just a little bit fun.

Happy reading.

Christine Borne

Editor-in-Chief