Entropy and the City

Led by Zahra Patterson
Wendy’s Subway
379 Bushwick Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11206

If you look at the roots of the word entropy, it means “inside transformation.” In its modern usage, we use entropy if we are speaking about chaos, disorder, and decay. How can we think of the city, specifically New York City with all its glittering development, as a place that’s in a state of decline? Can we think of progress as a form of destruction?

In this workshop, we will discuss entropy in terms of our neighborhoods and schools. We’ll examine texts that explore the themes of displacement, surveillance, and land justice. We’ll write stories and poems and publish zines in real time on a risograph printer.

For teens aged 15 to 19. All materials will be provided.

Wendy's Subway is a non-profit reading room, writing space, and independent publisher located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Since 2013, Wendy's Subway has provided an open and versatile platform for expanding modes of reading, writing, and publishing together.

unbag is a semi-annual magazine that promotes critical engagement with contemporary art and politics. Commissioning artists, writers, and thinkers who work outside of mainstream discourses, unbag functions as a space to explore ideas through discussion and exchange.

Zahra Patterson is a writer and educator. She created Raw Fiction, a literary arts project for teen writers, and her first book, Chronology (Ugly Duckling Presse 2018), is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.