Poet and essayist Sarah Gorham on the meanings of perfect

Most religions and philosophical systems deal with perfection. God is perfect, humans are not, in the afterlife a person will perfectly be at one with the universe, and so on. But what is perfection? What does it mean for something to be perfect?

MRB managing editor Charles Halton spoke with Sarah Gorham who wrote the book, Study in Perfect, published by the University of Georgia Press. In this book, Gorham explores the idea of perfection through a series of reflections ranging from her relationship with her disabled sister to the philosophies of Japanese pottery.

Sarah Gorham is a poet and essayist as well as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Sarabande Books an independent, literary press located in Louisville, Kentucky. Charles spoke with her at her office.