Wendy’s Subway is a reading room, writing space, and independent publisher in Bushwick, Brooklyn. We support emerging artists and writers in making experimental, urgent work and create alternative modes for learning and thinking in community. Wendy’s Subway is dedicated to encouraging creative, critical, and discursive engagement with arts and literature. We prioritize collaboration and horizontal decision-making in our work towards being a responsive and sustainable organization.
Our interdisciplinary program includes free readings, talks, performances, and reading groups, as well as sliding-scale writing workshops and intensives. We offer residencies designed to uplift artistic and scholarly research, archival and library projects, and independent publishing practices. Our multi-series publishing initiative includes artists’ books, poetic texts, and hybrid-genre works by time-based artists. Our non-circulating library holds a collection of over 3,000 titles, ranging from poetry and fiction, to criticism and art books.
Wendy’s Subway was founded in 2013 and became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 2016. Wendy’s Subway is a member of the Coalition of Small Arts (COSA) New York, the New York City Literary Action Coalition, and the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses. Learn more about getting involved and our membership program here.
Location
379 Bushwick Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Directions
L train to Montrose or Morgan / J or M to Flushing
Hours
Thursday–Friday, 10am-6pm
Saturday, 11am-6pm
And by appointment here.
We are located on a ground-floor storefront at 379 Bushwick Avenue. A ramp is available for wheelchair access to accommodate a raised single door (33-inch-wide doorway and 2" raised threshold). A single, all-gender bathroom is accessible by a 27-inch-wide door. There are two ADA-compliant bathrooms nearby: Brooklyn Public Library & Roberta’s Pizza. Our space is not scent-free although (some cleaning supplies may have scented chemicals) but we request that all visitors come fragrance-free. We offer masks, Covid rapid testing kits, hand sanitizer, and Narcan kits onsite. Mask-wearing is strongly encouraged.
We host programs in person and online. All virtual events include auto-closed captions in English. Some in-person programs may include a live stream; please check our website event listing for verification.
Wendy's Subway is run by a small team of part-time staff members working onsite during open hours and remotely throughout the week. If you have specific questions about access, please write info@wendyssubway.com with “access request” in the subject line before the event, preferably with 48-hour notice, and we will make every effort to provide accommodations for you.
To inquire about programming an event at Wendy's Subway, please follow this link.
Requests should be made at least one month ahead of the proposed event date. We will respond within a week of the submitted request.
Email info@wendyssubway.com with questions.
Corinne Butta, Editor
Catherine Calderon, Distribution and Operations Coordinator
Marian Chudnovsky, Librarian
Sanjana Iyer, Program Director
Amari-Grey Johnson, 2023-2024 Library Fellow
Juwon Jun, Associate Editor
Ren Nguyễn, Communications and Publicity Coordinator
Rachel Valinsky, Artistic Director
Michael Valinsky, International Distribution Liaison
Teline Trần, Membership and Community Engagement Coordinator
Past staff and fellows:
Katherine Adams, Simran Ankolkar, Erica Ammann, Aru Apaza, Harris Bauer, Kevin Barnum, Emily Bartsch, Taylor Bell, Xavi Danto, Sadie Hope-Gund, Cillian Finnerty, Maanav Jalan, Snigdha Koirala, Stephon Lawrence, Teddy Lewis, Alec Mapes-Frances, Sarah McEachern, Noah LeBien, Kyle Richardson, Carlos Rodriguez, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, Emma Seely-Katz, Zoe Senise, Mallika Singh, Elizaveta Shneyderman, Charlotte Strange, Fergal Styles, Megan Toye, Sixing Xu, Yoav Yaron, Claire Zuo
Web Design
Everything Studio
Rachel Valinsky, President
Gabe Kruis, Secretary
Matt Longabucco, Treasurer
James Hoff
Erica Kaufman
Stacy Szymaszek
Wendy’s Subway recommits to adhering to the Palestinian international call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and to complying with the guidelines of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
We stand in total solidarity with the people of Palestine, who have suffered under the eliminationist violence of the Western imperial and Zionist powers for more than a century; and recognize their right—under law and morality—as an occupied people to resist their oppressors.
In our organizational and individual capacities as representatives of arts and culture institutions, we commit to not crossing the international picket line for Palestine. Specifically, we commit—where applicable—to:
• Boycott any cultural product commissioned by an official Israeli body;
• Boycott any cultural product funded by an official Israeli body, even if not commissioned;
• Boycott any cultural event that is partially or fully sponsored or funded by an official Israeli body;
• Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration, or joint projects with Israeli institutions, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to/from these institutions;
• Refrain from hosting or circulating any events or cultural products operating under the auspices of “normalization”, or which advance a false symmetry between oppressed and oppressor;
• Support Palestinian academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or implicit condition for such support.
To assist in complying with this call, here are some examples of our commitments:
• Not to lecture or perform at or in cooperation with complicit Israeli cultural institutions or events.
• Not to extend recognition to Israeli cultural organizations by exhibiting, presenting, and showcasing their work (e.g., films, installations, literary works).
• Not to host a cultural event if it is partially or fully sponsored by an official Israeli body or a complicit institution.
• Not to promote a cultural product (e.g., film, artwork, book) if it is commissioned by an official Israeli body or non-Israeli institution that serves Brand Israel or similar propaganda purposes.
• Demand an end to institutional or university exchange programs or satellite campuses with Israel.
We urge all arts organizations, writers, cultural workers, and artists to take action now. If you too are considering endorsing PACBI or have questions about how to get organized, please reach out.
More information at https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi.