Closing Victoria

The penitentiary was established in order to turn criminals from their destructive paths onto the one of good citizenship, rather than throw them away to rot. Closing Victoria is a collection of poems written by one such inmate. Her inner thoughts and clues about her history are hidden or expounded upon in each entry. Who is Victoria and what has she done? How does she cope with complete isolation and darkness except for a few short minutes when she is allowed ink and paper? What is the philosophy behind this process of "salvation"? Is it all simply a cover for the brutalization and torture of these inmates?



If an inmate fails to live up to the penitentiary's expectations, he is subject to a more intense form of correction, including the "Iron Gag." However, Victoria chooses to experiment with the mental torture she has wrought upon herself within a miniature world where all control has been taken from her. She speaks in her writing, but only after she's fooled herself into thinking someone is listening.