Bridges Inside: Prison and Health (October)

Texts

‘On the Verge of Hell’ by Judith Vazquez from Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement (2014), edited by James Ridgeway, Jean Casella, and Sarah Shourd

Prison Poems (2013) by Mahvash Sabet, translated by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani

I shut my eyes in this weary cell

where the circle of friendship is shattered

and the pattern of thought broken

-‘Remembering the Sea’ by Mahvash Sabet

In a 2021 article, Schliehe et al. state that “loneliness, in its various forms, is an almost inherent aspect of imprisonment — perhaps in some senses universal.” Loneliness is a common thread in testimonies from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. For many people in prison, loneliness is an experience that is not reducible to physical isolation and confinement. Instead, loneliness is part of the “emotive topography of inclusion and exclusion” experienced inside.

This month, we’ll be discussing the “various forms” loneliness takes in prison — from the immediate loneliness produced by physical isolation and confinement to the ‘ethical loneliness’ that comes from experiences of abandonment and shame. For this session, we’ll be joined by a guest with very recent experience of wrongful incarceration. She’ll share some of her experiences from those 10 months inside and speak about the realities of life for incarcerated women, the troubling costs of isolation, the profound need for change in our justice system, and her own journey navigating “post-release” life. We’ll be listening to her story in relation to two texts. The first piece, ‘On the Verge of Hell,’ is an account by Judith Vazquez from Hell Is a Very Small Place, a collection of prison writings on the experience of solitary confinement. The second piece is an excerpt from Prison Poems, a collection of poetry by Mahvash Sabet. Sabet has been incarcerated on and off since 2008 for her role as a leader in the Iranian Bahá’í community. 

We are incredibly grateful to have this guest share her story and hope you will join us for a revealing and honest discussion about the realities of prison (and post-prison) life.

All readings are available on our website under the ‘Resources’ tab.