Jessi Brewer is a fourth-year PhD student in the English Department at Brandeis University. She specializes in Victorian literature and has a particular focus on the emergence of the modern penitentiary system, where she examines the role of the literary imagination during this pivotal period in carceral history. Her work is dedicated to exploring how narratives and the study of literature can contribute to addressing pressing social problems. She is passionate about carceral justice and prison reentry resources. When she is not reading or writing, she is also an avid birder and loves to discover wooded areas in the city to bird!