Kit Ballum Cohen

Kit Ballum Cohen was interviewed by Sophie Seymour on June 2, 2026, at Hudson Hall for the Community Library of Voice and Sound. Kit reflects on growing up in rural Plymouth, Massachusetts, attending Boston College before leaving for mental health reasons, and eventually studying graphic design at the School of Visual Arts and building an adult life and queer community in New York City. After years in Brooklyn, Kit moved to the Hudson Valley with a partner, eventually settling in Germantown, where they now share parenting of their daughter. Kit describes the beauty of rural life alongside profound feelings of loneliness and isolation, which intensified following the end of their relationship, the loss of a longtime job as a nonprofit creative director during the pandemic, and the death of their older brother from cancer. A central focus of the interview is Kit’s recent process of recovering and making sense of memories of childhood sexual abuse by priests and a middle school band teacher, experiences they connect to longstanding gaps in childhood memory and difficulties with trust, relationships, and self-understanding. Kit discusses the importance of speaking openly about these experiences, both as a way of releasing shame and integrating them into their own life story and in the hope that doing so might help others recognize or speak about similar experiences. They also reflect on taking steps toward accountability from the church and on the loss of their brother as a reminder not to wait to confront difficult parts of one’s past. Throughout the interview, Kit describes their relationship with their daughter as a crucial source of connection and purpose, emphasizing their desire to make sure she feels heard, believed, protected, and understood. Kit concludes by describing the interview itself as one part of the process of claiming their story, explaining that the more they tell it, the more it begins to feel like their own.

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Note: Days after taping this interview, Kit learned they won their claim against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, with a settlement to follow later this year.