Welcome to the Feral Stack!
with Summer Koester, once called the “spiritual and literary daughter of Annie Dillard”
Hey, thanks for stopping by!
I named this place the “Feral Stack” because the way Anglo-American culture has been doing things is no longer working. In this newsletter, we examine culture deeply, going beyond the vapid to connect behaviors and values that no longer serve us while offering up new ones that do. We look at other cultures, species, and intelligences for guidance in rewilding and deprogramming, but we do it with humor and irreverence.
The people who sign up for my newsletter are thoughtful, open-hearted individuals who are hungry for change. When you sign up for the Feral Stack, you become part of an inspiring, kind, and engaged community of cultural misfits.
Free subscribers have access to
Deep dives that explore connections between behaviors and cultural values
Personal stories and observations outside dominant Euro-American, neurotypical cultural norms for ways to be better humans
Writing (witch)craft, marketing tips, and hacks for balancing creation while doing capitalism
Occasional threads and comments
Paid subscribers receive all free content plus
Discussion threads in a vibrant, engaged, and thoughtful community
Behind-the-scenes looks at performances, activism, and other ways I am trying to make a change
The option to read the comments and comment on all posts
Off the Hook Honeys “Hot Tips”
My gratitude for keeping this thing going
Either way, welcome. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
About me
I am an award-winning writer, cultural anthropologist, activist, performing artist, neurodivergent mother of an autistic child, and a 20-year Alaskan teacher. My work has been featured in the New York Times, The Sun, Insider, Huffington Post, the Independent, McSweeney’s, and many more.
With 15 years of living in other cultures, two bicultural marriages, a BA in cultural anthropology, and a Master’s in Education, I examine mainstream Euro-American values and behaviors and look at other ways of being. As an Alaskan teacher, I am continually learning from Native Alaskan culture bearers for ways to strengthen relationships with ourselves, each other, and the land.
What people are saying about my newsletter
“Simply put, one of the best sites I’ve come across. Intelligent, funny, and more important, the woman can write.” —Peter Johnson, author of While the Undertaker Sleeps and Old Man (Still) Howling at the Moon, and contributing editor to American Poetry Review, Web del Sol, and Slope
“I supported Summer’s work because she is not afraid to look into the abyss... and make me laugh while doing it.” —Mark Kennedy, author of Hawk and Dance of the Dolphin
“Thought and soul-provoking observations from a sharp and perceptive scribe for these times.” —Katie Bausler, host of Active Voice podcast
“Powerful pieces that will challenge you, make you think, and have you tearing up.” Elle Mitchell, author of The Pieces We Try to Forget
“Summer’s stacks are thought-provoking, often make me smile from her sly humor, while also leaving me going, ‘wait, what’ and pondering long after I read.” —Anne Richardson, founder of NurtureYourJourney.net
“Summer’s writing reflects her profound connection to the web of life across cultures and landscapes, and her hard-won wisdom pours out with a fierce, loving, and unambivalent voice.” —Sean Talbeaux
“I am happy to have found Summer’s writings. Every paid subscription I get goes to someone whose writing touches me deeply, and hers does.” —Velvet Phillips-Sullivan
“Summer finds a way to weave things together, magically.” —Van Miranda, writer, musician & poet
“Finally! Something interesting to read. Summer is awesome.” —Wendy Beebe
“Her writing always makes me reflect, to think there is hope.” —Marian Clough
Origin Story
Growing up in Alaska, sensitive and strange, I was always the round peg trying to squeeze through a square hole. On the stage, in theater, I found my voice in the lives and identities of others.
In my teens and twenties, I spent fifteen years living in Latin American and Caribbean cultures. There, I searched for a place to belong and who to become; transforming into other people on stage had taught me to shapeshift. I switched up my language, behaviors, values, and body until I didn’t know who I was, only what others had constructed of me, an amalgamation of other’s expectations.
Then, one day, I went for a walk in the woods.
“Look at these amazing organisms,” the rainforest said. “Each one is unique; not one is alike. This is a wild rainforest where diversity is our strength.”
Now I know it’s okay to be the kind of a person who breaks their finger on a Nerf ball, which I did in fifth grade. That I am more in my head than in this body, which is so often unreliable. It’s okay that my lungs sense danger, and I inadvertently summon spirits.
The rainforest thrives not because all the trees look alike but because they are diverse and support each other. The world needs my daughter’s autistic superpowers and my body full of holes. We only need to reclaim our power and share it around.
If you are interested in reading more of my work, here are some of my personal favorites:
Satire - McSweeney’s, Slackjaw, Widget, The Belladonna, Points In Case, and Robot Butt.
Op-eds on Alaskan culture and politics - The Independent
Parenting pieces - New York Times, HuffPost, & Insider
Published poetry
Again, thank you for reading!
