Author and historian Jon Lauck is on a mission to revive an interest in the history of the country’s heartland.
As a part of that effort, he’s founding a new journal, Middle West Review, focused on publishing work by Midwestern authors about Midwestern history and culture.
“This will be a place people can send articles they write about the region. Prior to a few months ago, there was no place to send articles that they write about the region. Often when you send regionally focused articles to state history journals, they would want you to rewrite it to focus on one state,” he explains.
Lauck blames part of the disinterest in regional research on the fact that there has been a collapse of university presses, so there are far fewer places for authors to publish their work.
During this Talk of Iowa interview, Lauck talks with host Charity Nebbe about the movement, and a conference he’s organizing for next month that will be the first symposium on Midwestern history in decades.
