Looi van Kessel

Looi van Kessel is assistant professor in Literary Studies and Gender Studies at Leiden University. His research focuses on 20th-century American and Dutch LGBTQIA+ literature. In 2019, He obtained his PhD with a dissertation on the American author James Purdy. Since completing his dissertation, his research interests have developed along three tracks: gender and sexuality in the works of Louis Couperus, literature about the AIDS epidemic, and inclusive education.

In addition to his role as an assistant professor, Van Kessel is the editor-in-chief at Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies (Dutch Journal of Gender Studies), a multidisciplinary, peer reviewed journal providing a platform for Dutch and English gender research in the Netherlands and Flanders. He is also editor for the journal Arabesken, which is published by the Louis Couperus Society.