Kit Heyam

Writer of queer history
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Academic writer, Historian, Non-fiction writer
Available for:
Collaboration, Editing, Festivals and other events, Ghostwriting, Judging, Lecturing and teaching, Library visits, Live readings and performances, Media, Mentoring, Proofreading, Public speaking, School visits, Workshops

I’m a writer, heritage facilitator and educator invested in changing the way we think about queer history. My first trade book, Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender (Basic Books UK / Seal Press, 2022), was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Nonfiction and was a History Today Book of the Year. I’m currently working on Making Family: A Trans History – a history of how we made the “traditional” nuclear family, and how we’ve always been able to see beyond its blinkered vision of gender and biology – which will be out with Basic and Seal in 2027.

With a background in academia, I also have a wide range of academic publications – most recently, I co-edited New and Decolonial Approaches to Gender Nonconformity: Forging A Home For Ourselves (Bloomsbury, 2025) with Jonathan Ward, and I edited A Cultural History of Gender in the Early Modern World (Bloomsbury, 2025). See my website for more details of my academic profile.

I regularly work with museums and the cultural heritage sector as a consultant on representing tricky queer and trans histories, and to facilitate relationships with LGBTQ+ communities. I also lead fun heritage activities, from creative workshops to walking tours. See my website for details on what I can offer.