Q&A with Rebecca Knuth | Author
Introduce yourself with your degree information and tell us what you do now.
Hello. I graduated in 1990 with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science and worked three years as a school librarian on U.S. military bases in Europe. After earning a doctorate (Indiana University 1995), I returned to UH as a professor in the LIS Program for eighteen years until retiring in 2014. I now write creative nonfiction full time.
Were there any experiences, courses, or values at UH that had a lasting impact on your career or worldview?
At UH, I developed global perspectives and an appreciation for culture and diversity that has greatly impacted my work and life. I went on to work overseas, do a dissertation on library history that involved Jamaica, and write two books—case studies on library destruction in Cambodia, China, Kuwait, and other nations. UH supported attendance at international conferences in faraway places like Korea and Germany. I was a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and part of a UH Globalization group that spanned multiple departments.
Your work has explored powerful themes like cultural destruction, censorship, and intellectual freedom. What first sparked your interest in these topics, and how did UH influence your path?
I was entranced with three UH LIS courses: the “History of Books and Libraries,” “Intellectual Freedom,” and “International Librarianship.” They set me on a course toward specializing, as a professor, in the violent destruction of books and libraries. UH allowed me the freedom to pursue these interests through research and writing books and in my teaching. I wrote Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century and Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction and actually taught the three classes which had so affected me.
After retiring, you transitioned from academic writing to storytelling for broader audiences. What motivated that shift, and what have you learned from the experience?
Academic writing is very circumscribed and I wanted to reach more readers. Learning to write creative nonfiction has allowed me to impart information in an entertaining fashion. I think I craved creativity and a voice, putting myself into my writing and being part of the stories I wrote. Also, with retirement, I sought to take on a new identity as a writer and person. The most valuable lessons were learning the elements of storytelling and narrative arcs.
Your recent book, Emily Dickinson Had to Have Curls, explores how women writers navigated societal expectations. What inspired this project, and how does it connect to your broader mission as a writer and educator?
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. I began the book as an assignment for a post-retirement writing course in London and enjoyed the insights possible from pursuing life stories and visiting the homes, institutions, and graves of the writers I chose to follow. I ended up a confirmed feminist.
Your upcoming book, London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement, (publication date Jan. 27, 2026) reflects on your personal journey after leaving academia. What inspired you to write it, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
In my new home in Portland, Oregon, while finishing the Emily Dickinson book, I realized that researching and writing it (in fact my entire experience in London), had changed my trajectory as a writer and as a person. I wrote London Sojourn to make sense of my life and to relive that period. And to figure out why London and England had always been important to me.
What advice would you give to UH alumni who are thinking about exploring new directions in their work or creative lives—especially later in their careers or after retirement?
My advice would to see life as a series of adventures. People evolve throughout their life and retirement can be another beginning. If one takes risks and pursues one’s instincts and interests, life becomes infinitely richer.