Hi! I'm Brennan Kenneth (he/they). Friends call me Kenny, and I wear a lot of different hats. I'm Queer, Red River Métis, and work as an independent author and web developer. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and now based in Mohkínstsis, in Treaty 7 territory (Calgary, Alberta). I run a small homelab, keep a personal wiki, and spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about where the web went and where it could go instead. This page lives on SDF, a public access UNIX system that has been running since 1987.
Quick Facts
- Work: Founder of Berry House (web development, mostly pro bono and accessible JAMstack work these days); sole operator of folk.zone; webmaster of fanfiction.lol, a fork of Archive of Our Own with 300+ users; founder and former president of Write Club, a creative collective that grew to 100+ members over three years
- Education: BA in English (Honours), Mount Royal University, graduated April 2025, double minor in Creative Writing and Religious Studies
- Writing: publishing since 2015 (300+ articles); nine independently published books; journaling daily since September 2011, 1,300,000+ words and counting
- Focus: writing craft, lyric essays, literary criticism, digital culture, accessibility, the independent web, decolonization, Indigenous studies
Writing
Mostly creative nonfiction (lyric, research-driven essays) and poetry. Recurring subjects:
- The craft of writing itself, and the life of a working writer
- Literature and cultural criticism
- Digital minimalism, the attention economy, and the independent web
- Systems, routines, and the practical work of making a meaningful life
- Whatever the hell takes my interest at the moment
Web Development
I build and maintain fast, accessible, content-first websites, usually with static-site tooling (Astro, Eleventy/11ty, Hugo, Jekyll) and progressive enhancement. I care a lot about:
- Performance: less JavaScript, sub-second load times
- Accessibility: A11y-first, WCAG 2.1 AA, not a nice-to-have
- Portability: local-first writing, plain text, version control, Markdown over proprietary formats
- Owning your work: building sites people can actually keep and maintain long-term
Which is why a hand-rolled, framework-free page on a 1987 UNIX system appeals to me in the first place.
Geek Code
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GH/L d-->--- s-:+ a30 C+++()>$ UBL>+++$ P+>+++ L++>++++$ E-->+ W+++$
N+ o? !K--? w--- !O M+ !V- PS+++ PE-- Y++ PGP+>+++ !t !5 X+ !R
tv++ b++>++++ DI--- D+ G++ e++>++++$ h- r+(++)>+++ y++?*
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------Tildeverse Homes
I have several accounts on public-access Unix systems. Each has its own mailbox and its own culture.
| Host | Login | What It Is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| tilde.town | brennan | brennan@tilde.town | intentional digital community built around shared tools |
| tilde.pink | brennan | brennan@tilde.pink | small tilde with strong gemini/gopher culture |
| tilde.club | brennan | brennan@tilde.club | the tilde that started the modern wave (2014) |
| sdf.org | bren | bren@sdf.org | public access unix system running since 1987 (you are here) |
| cosmic.voyage | brennan | brennan@cosmic.voyage | pubnix built around a shared science-fiction story |
| envs.net | brennan | brennan@envs.net | minimalist tilde with a long service list |
| tilde.green | brennan | brennan@tilde.green | 2022 tilde focused on creativity and wildness |
Elsewhere
- brennan.day: my indie publication
- fanfiction.lol: my indie fanfic site
- My gopherhole ยท My Gemini capsule
finger bren@sdf.org
Contact
Email is best: bren@sdf.org or mail@brennanbrown.ca.
PGP: 4AFD 9774 8B3A A4E6 216F A061 F515 013E CE98 0AE2
(public key on keys.openpgp.org).
Full set of public keys, including SSH, age, Cosign, Minisign, and
Keyoxide, on the Keys page.