Hello! I’m Kes Otter Lieffe
I’m a writer and ecologist involved in grassroots community struggles for over twenty-five years. My work focuses on mutual aid, nature connection and the intersections of class, queerness, disability justice and environmental defence.
You can follow my newsletter or choose your own adventure: Stories or Ecology
Stories: I’ve written four queer speculative fiction novels and some short stories for anthologies. My upcoming oral story-telling project is called Mutual Aid Bedtime Stories.
Ecology: I also write and teach about queer ecology, here and on my Radical Queer Ecology substack. I offer workshops, keynotes and interviews and I can sometimes be found at the Berlin Natural History Museum giving queer tours among the dinosaurs.
Public speaking
I give keynotes and presentations on subjects relating to my work and have recently spoken at European Literature Days (Austria), Ecopolis (Belgium) and Leipzig Buchmesse (Germany). Read my media page or get in touch.
Speculative Fiction
In my futuristic stories, marginalised characters take centre stage in powerful resistance movements. Everything is at stake and so much is possible.
Queer Ecology
I’m an ecologist and the author of the Queer Animals and Plants series.
I give workshops and have a substack on the subject.
Workshops
I’ve been teaching for over twenty years and I regularly offer workshops and presentations on subjects such as mutual aid, consensus and writing.
Bedtime stories
An upcoming series of oral stories about mutual aid, collective care to nourish our sleep so we can thrive another day 🩷
Substack
I have a radical queer ecology substack with articles from an upcoming book on queer ecology, class, mutual aid and nature connection.
Creating becomes ever harder to live from and as a result there are fewer working-class authors each year. I love my work although it doesn’t come close to paying the bills. I fundraise all the time for other projects but I find it hard to focus on earning enough from my work. And without the safety net of middle-class privilege, I really don’t have an option.
As I have been my whole life, I’m deeply invested in mutual aid and in solidarity organising. I want to keep writing, teaching, mobilising and learning.
But I’ll need some help along the way.