An Arbitrary Formation of Unspecified Value

An Arbitrary Formation of Unspecified Value is a fragmented book-length essay in which we see the city of Detroit through two distinct seasons: the summer Quartararo worked with a letterpress artist in a former veal locker, and the winter she lived on a dead end street slated for possible removal next to a defunct highway overpass. We see the city from the seat of her bicycle, from the #42 bus, and for miles on foot as she meditates on the erasure of memories, the impermanence of bodies, and the disintegration of structures. Quartararo’s Detroit teems with life as she explores the ways people are both shaped by, and take shape of, landscapes.

Jennifer Quartararo holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Northern Michigan University and her essays have appeared in Hotel Amerika, Quarter After Eight, saltfront: studies in human habit(at), The Recorded Reading Archive, and Hobart, among others. Originally from Maine, she’s been based in Detroit since 2017, during which time she’s taught creative writing to kids in Detroit Public Schools through the organization InsideOut Literary Arts, to kids in juvenile detention through the organization Youth Arts Alliance, as well as to adults through the writing space Room Project.