Rust Belt Regionalism: American Salvage

Part of the mastery of Bonnie Jo Campbell’s story collection American Salvage is the way it effectively captures the people and a sense of place in the rural, working-class Rust Belt. At the same time, the characters in the collection are never portrayed as simple or unsophisticated, and the landscape is not seen as lacking depth of thought or even profound inspiration. This talk by Prof. Jeff Swenson of Hiram College will explore how Campbell infuses the cosmopolitan within her regional fiction to create these vibrant landscapes. This event is part of the Reading the Rust Belt community reading program.