He is also the editor of Belt Magazine and in 2016 edited Happy Anyway: A Flint Anthology from Belt Publishing. Atkinson cut his teeth in journalism in Flint, Michigan, writing and editing first for the now defunct alternative paper The Uncommon Sense and later as a features writer for The Flint Journal, where he explored everything from dying factory bars to cemeteries holding the remains of long-lost orphans. He continues to write about Flint as well as anywhere else his curiosity takes him and teaches writing and journalism at The University of Michigan-Flint. Back to Top