Join us to hear Ali Isaac in conversation with Clare Fisher about her new memoir, Imperfect Bodies.
When Ali learns that she is expecting a child with CFC syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the heart, face, skin, and development, her world is shaken up. Doctors tell her that her baby will not even survive pregnancy but, against all odds, Carys is born. In this powerful literary memoir, Ali shares her journey as the mother of Carys, reflecting on motherhood, identity, the female body, and the able and dis-abled body, while exploring social and political definitions of normality.
Through lyrical prose and piercing insight, Ali Isaac interrogates how pregnancy, aging, and disability are all appropriated by public discourses without addressing individual needs. Isaac brings forth a myriad of non-normative bodies in a beautiful narrative that feels powerful and liberating.
A deeply moving and thought-provoking memoir that will resonate with readers of Claire Kilroy, Anne Enright, and Deborah Levy, Imperfect Bodies celebrates resilience and redefines what it means to live - and love - within a body that defies expectation.
"So beautifully written, such an honest and raw account, a scrupulous interrogation of perceptions and attitudes towards disability in the modern world." Sara Baume
Ali Isaac lives in Ireland with her husband, two sons, and daughter, Carys. In 2020, she was awarded a mentorship for Imperfect Bodies with author Sara Baume by Words Ireland in conjunction with the Arts Council of Ireland. She was also selected for the Penguin Write Now Program 2020. In 2021, she was the recipient of a Literature Bursary Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. Ali has been published in literary journals The Stinging Fly, Sonder, Paper Lanterns, and Catatonic Daughters. She regularly writes on her Substack.
Clare Fisher is a fiction writer and creative writing lecturer. Their debut novel, All the Good Things (Viking, Penguin, 2017) won a Betty Trask award and was described by the Guardian as ‘a sparky and unsettling debut.’ Their short story collection, How the Light Gets In (Influx Press, 2018) was longlisted for the Edgehill Short Story prize and the International Dylan Thomas prize. Their most recent short story collection, The Moon is Trending has been published by Salt.
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