Kel Hardy is a queer erotica writer living in Toronto's Gay Village. They co-produce Smut Peddlers, a live erotica reading event at Glad Day Bookshop, the world's oldest LGBTQ+ bookstore. They co-edited Smut Peddlers: Glad Day 50, which Cosmopolitan praised as "totally expanding contemporary erotica." Smut Peddlers was also a finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Erotica. In 2021, they published DARK: a zine of queer BDSM erotica with Goblin Cat Press. They have also had stories featured in various queer publications and zines.
Kel identifies as a white non-binary writer, story-teller, community organizer, and sex nerd. They believe in telling stories that normalize the coexistence of filth and intimacy, kindness and violence, and the radical power of hedonism.