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y separately published work icon Imperfect single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Imperfect
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'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)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Mulgrave, Ashwood - Mulgrave area, Melbourne South East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Affirm Press , 2019 .
      image of person or book cover 2961167916578606974.jpg
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      Extent: 320p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 8th January 2019

      ISBN: 9781925584813

Works about this Work

Lee Kofman Interview Samuel Elliott (interviewer), 2019 single work interview
— Appears in: Other Terrain , June no. 7 2019;

'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)          

y separately published work icon 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)

A Wound of One’s Own : Imperfect by Lee Kofman Eloise Grills , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , August 2019;

'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)

Books Roundup : Call Me Evie, Imperfect, You Know You Want This Ellen Cregan , Elizabeth Flux , Nathania Gilson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , February 2019;
What I’m Reading Nicola Redhouse , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
Books Roundup : Call Me Evie, Imperfect, You Know You Want This Ellen Cregan , Elizabeth Flux , Nathania Gilson , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , February 2019;
A Wound of One’s Own : Imperfect by Lee Kofman Eloise Grills , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , August 2019;

'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)

What I’m Reading Nicola Redhouse , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
y separately published work icon 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)

Lee Kofman Interview Samuel Elliott (interviewer), 2019 single work interview
— Appears in: Other Terrain , June no. 7 2019;

'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)          

Last amended 14 Nov 2019 12:52:33
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