Reilly Lorastein

Teaches at Veritas Prep

Reilly received her Bachelor’s degree with honors in Africana Studies and History from Bowdoin College in 2013. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow she spent the summer of 2012 conducting independent research on racial identity formation in Lima and Cuzco, Peru. That same summer she also traveled to Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa to research prison literature during apartheid in South Africa. Her honors thesis, completed Spring 2013, ultimately looked specifically at prison literature produced through a program of higher education within San Quentin State Prison. Her goal was to define the conventions of the New Prison Literature produced within the past two decades, and the contemporary “incarcerated experience” as a subject position that intersects with race, class, gender, and sexuality. In addition to her written thesis Reilly also produced and performed in a live show that integrated the original poetry of incarcerated people, dance, and live music. Reilly is currently pursuing a career in the performance arts.