Senior Analyst
Laylage Courie
- Institutional Research & Effectiveness
Intimate Things
Intimate Things is a poetic, genre-bending meditation on passion and a dream conversation between 12th century lovers and ecclesiastics, Heloise & Abelard, as imagined by a love-lorn drunk listening for God a-top the Empire State Building.
How did you first come up with the idea for this work?
The first part was inspired by a terrible pseudo-erotic French film I saw uptown: it was so bad I came home immediately to try to re-write it. The third part was originally an improvisation off a jazz record. Years later I pulled both into one work defined by the historical writings of a 12th century nun and monk who entered service after a cataclysmic affair.
What was your research process like?
Various pieces from this book were performed all over NYC in the early aughts which allowed me to experience the text outside of my own mind. When turning those scripts into a work for the printed page, I spent a lot of time with my translations from Latin of the writings of both Abelard and Heloise: that research defined the structure of this book.
How long did you work on this before it was published?
Years with big gaps in between.
Does this work relate to your role at FIT? If so, how?
It does not. Thanks for paying my rent, though!
Have you published any other books or have any upcoming publications?
I have published in journals but this is my first book.
- Started working at FIT in 2000
- Book published in November 2024