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ABOUT AUTHOR Laura Vogt (Teufen, 1989) studied creative writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel and Cultural Studies at the University of Luzern. Her first novel So einfach war es zu gehen came out in 2016. She is also the author of numerous short stories and articles as well as lyrical and dramatic texts. She started writing her second novel Was uns betrifft (What Concerns Us) just two months after having her first child. In her work, Laura is particularly interested in exploring the complexity of relationships, maternity, as well as inquiring into the many forms that womanhood can take. She is currently working on her third novel. Laura lives in the canton of St. Gallen.

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DESCRIPTION. Rahel and Fenna are in their late twenties and early thirties. They are sisters. Their mother Vera brought them up by herself. Vera started a series of romantic relationships with other women, and now suffers from breast cancer. Rahel, a jazz singer, is pregnant and single but in love with writer Boris with whom she eventually moves. While she seems to embrace maternity and family life, she falls pregnant from Boris, and her body turns into a complete alienated part of herself. When the baby is born, she rejects maternity; at the same time, she cannot stop breastfeeding the baby. In the meanwhile, Fenna expects a child from Luc, a man who can turn from charming hippy to aggressor in a heartbeat, raping her on a woodland walk well into their relationship. We follow Fenna throughout her complex response, from rage, to acceptance, to feelings of responsibility and guilt. WHAT CONCERNS US is a blunt depiction of pregnancy, sex, maternity and relationships through the lives of two women.

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IMPERFECT BODIES

IMPERFECT BODIES

"So beautifully written, such an honest and raw account, a scrupulous interrogation of perceptions and attitudes towards disability in the modern world." Sara Baume
 
"Imperfect Bodies is a gorgeous memoir, a portrait of a profoundly loving relationship between mother and daughter that manages at once to serve as a meditation on 'disability' and the relationship to the self." Oona Frawley, author of Flights
 
"Imperfect Bodies brilliantly tells the compelling story of a mother falling in love with her beautiful daughter." Moynagh Sullivan, Professor of English, Maynooth University
 
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.
 
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.
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