'By the time she was eleven and living in Russia, Lee Kofman had undergone several major operations on both a defective heart and injuries sustained in a bus accident. Her body harbours a constellation of disfiguring scars that have shaped her sense of self and her view of the world. But it wasn't until she moved from the Soviet Union to Israel and later Australia that she realised these markings weren't badges of honour to flaunt but were, in fact, imperfections that needed to be concealed.
'In a seductive mix of memoir and cultural critique, Kofman casts a questioning eye on the myths surrounding our conception of physical perfection and what it's like to live in a body that deviates from the norm. She reveals the subtle ways we are all influenced by the bodies we inhabit, whether our differences are pronounced or noticeable only to ourselves. She talks to people of all shapes, sizes and configurations and takes a hard look at the way media and culture dictates how bodies should and shouldn't be.
'By turns illuminating, confronting and deeply personal, IMPERFECT challenges us all to consider how we exist in the world and how our bodies shape the people we become.' (Publication summary)
'Dr. Lee Kofman is a Russian-born Israeli-Australian author, who has edited two anthologies and penned five books. In addition to her long-form and editorial work, her poetry, short stories and creative non-fiction pieces have featured in a wealth of publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Meanjin and The Griffith Review, among numerous others. Beyond her own writing, Kofman has also interviewed several literary luminaries, including Heather Morris, Ceridwen Dovey and Sofie Laguna.' (Introduction)
Andy Jackson and Lee Kofman in Conversation with Chris Gordon
Chris Gordon
(interviewer),
2019
23469613
2019
single work
podcast
interview
'Readings' events and programming manager Christine Gordon sits down with poet Andy Jackson and author Lee Kofman to discuss lyrical prose, poetry, writing and how we can be our most honest selves.' (Production summary)
'In Imperfect Lee Kofman dissects her life-long relationship to the scars on her body. She tells of the calamities that scarred her: a haphazardly administered heart operation in the Soviet Union when she was ten years old left her with ugly scars on her chest; a week later she was run over by a bus, leaving her leg stippled by scar tissue. She traces her relationship to her own scars and to a multitude of secondary texts; she interviews other people about their experiences, seeking to understand how what she terms our ‘Body Surface’ moulds our lives. Disentangling her flesh from metaphor in an effort to study her relationship with it, to redefine its paradigm beyond tired axioms of self-love. ‘Reality is messy, way messier than is possible to sum up in manifestos of pop-psychology advice,’ she writes.' (Introduction)
'In Imperfect Lee Kofman dissects her life-long relationship to the scars on her body. She tells of the calamities that scarred her: a haphazardly administered heart operation in the Soviet Union when she was ten years old left her with ugly scars on her chest; a week later she was run over by a bus, leaving her leg stippled by scar tissue. She traces her relationship to her own scars and to a multitude of secondary texts; she interviews other people about their experiences, seeking to understand how what she terms our ‘Body Surface’ moulds our lives. Disentangling her flesh from metaphor in an effort to study her relationship with it, to redefine its paradigm beyond tired axioms of self-love. ‘Reality is messy, way messier than is possible to sum up in manifestos of pop-psychology advice,’ she writes.' (Introduction)
Andy Jackson and Lee Kofman in Conversation with Chris Gordon
Chris Gordon
(interviewer),
2019
23469613
2019
single work
podcast
interview
'Readings' events and programming manager Christine Gordon sits down with poet Andy Jackson and author Lee Kofman to discuss lyrical prose, poetry, writing and how we can be our most honest selves.' (Production summary)
'Dr. Lee Kofman is a Russian-born Israeli-Australian author, who has edited two anthologies and penned five books. In addition to her long-form and editorial work, her poetry, short stories and creative non-fiction pieces have featured in a wealth of publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Meanjin and The Griffith Review, among numerous others. Beyond her own writing, Kofman has also interviewed several literary luminaries, including Heather Morris, Ceridwen Dovey and Sofie Laguna.' (Introduction)
