University of 麻豆传媒 alumna Rebecca Knuth is set to release London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement, a memoir exploring her transition from academia to a new chapter of life.
Knuth earned her master’s degree in library and information science (LIS) from UH 惭ā苍辞补 in 1990 and later taught in the LIS program for 18 years before retiring in 2014. Her career led her to work overseas, complete a dissertation on library history that involved Jamaica, and write case studies on library destruction in Cambodia, China, Kuwait and other nations. She credits UH for shaping her perspective.
“At UH, I developed global perspectives and an appreciation for culture and diversity that has greatly impacted my work and life,” said Knuth. “I was entranced with three UH LIS courses…UH allowed me the freedom to pursue these interests through research and writing books and in my teaching.”
After retiring, Knuth shifted from scholarly writing to storytelling for broader audiences, including her earlier work Emily Dickinson Had to Have Curls, which examines how women writers navigated societal expectations.
“The thread that connects all my writing is the notion of silencing. That is what book destruction and intellectual freedom is about. As I researched how writers were and are silenced, patterns emerged and I narrowed my scope to women writers and soon came to see how femininity has affected their ability to write and publish,” she said.
London Sojourn reflects reinvention, resilience and self–discovery. Knuth encourages fellow UH alumni to embrace new directions in their creative lives.
“I wrote London Sojourn to make sense of my life and to relive that period,” she said. “My advice would be to see life as a series of adventures. People evolve throughout their lives and retirement can be another beginning. If one takes risks and pursues one’s instincts and interests, life becomes infinitely richer.”
London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement is set to be published on January 27, 2026.
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