Kes Otter Lieffe /kes ˈɒtə lˈiːf/ is a writer, ecologist, facilitator and community organiser currently based near Berlin. She is the author of four queer speculative fiction novels, several short stories and a colouring book series. She also writes non-fiction on class and queer ecology. Kes writes from a working-class, chronically ill, transfeminine perspective.
Kes is available for interviews, podcast interviews, speaking events, book readings and workshop facilitation.
Writing
Kes has written four queer speculative fiction novels - the Margins trilogy and home is a verb.
Her short story, Synergy was published in an anthology on social change and the climate crisis. Another short story, Soft was published in the queer resilience anthology, Glitter + Ashes.
Kes has written for speculative fiction magazine, Strange Horizons.
Speaking and workshops
Over the last several years, Kes has spoken as a panelist, keynote speaker and facilitator in various contexts, from protest camps to university institutions, from s3x worker conferences to NGOs to Al Jazeera. Since 2017, Kes has given over a hundred book readings from her novels.
- November 2024. Queer Ecology (and Colonialism) weekend. Basel
- October 2024. Launch tour and consultancy for Queering Nature tour.
Berlin Natural History Museum - September 2024. Keynote speech. Green Office Gent, Gent university
- June 2024. Queer ecology workshop. TIN* group, Kiel university
- May 2024. Intersectionality workshop. Transgender Europe
- March 2024. Book presentations. Leipzig International Book fair
- November 2023. Keynote workshop facilitator. Trans ecologies and writing, University of Durham
- October 2023. Workshop facilitator. Queer Ecology, BUKOF / University of Bremerhaven
- October 2022. Keynote Speaker, Studium Gent Future Ecologies series, Belgium
- June 2021. Guest speaker on AJ stream, Al Jazeera
- November 2020. Panel speaker on LGBTQ and Survivor Activism panel, National Survivor User Network (NSUN) AGM,UK
- December 2019. Workshop designer/facilitator – four-day workshop on trans liberation, queer ecology and utopian literature. Hyperwerk, Switzerland
- February 2019. Keynote Speaker, V-day Brussels 2019, Belgium
- May 2019, Panel speaker at A Decriminalised Future, Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM), UK
- April, 2018. Workshop facilitator – Writing from the Margins, National Trans Conference of the National Union of Students, UK
- October, 2017. Panel speaker and Panel Facilitator, Action for Trans Health national conference, UK
- May, 2017. Speaker, Putains de Rencontres, STRASS, Syndicat de Travail Sexuel, France
Interviews and articles
Kes regularly gives interviews for local radio stations, podcasts and blogs.
Kes writes articles on subjects such as precarity, queer and trans liberation, utopian literature and class. Her article, Surviving Utopia was published by speculative fiction magazine, Strange Horizons.
Activism
A grassroots community organiser for over two decades, Kes has worked and organised in Europe, the Middle-East and Latin America. Her work focuses particularly on the intersections of class, queerness and environmental struggles. Some recent work includes:
- Get-Home-Safe, Berlin
Creating a get-home-safe network to build safety and protection for marginalised members of the queer community. Collaboration with various nightlife events and venues in Berlin. Featured in Siegesäule, Europe’s largest LGBT magazine. - Beyond Visibility
An annual solidarity event on Trans Day of Visibility, writing letters to queer and trans people in prison. A collaborative event with aequa, Books Beyond Bars UK, LGBT Books to Prisoners and Solidarity Apothecary. - Trans-competency trainings
Training to various companies and collectives on building safety and access for the trans/transfeminine community. - Books Beyond Bars UK
Incubation of a trans/queer prisoner support group in the UK. Community events in Berlin to raise funds to support the project.