Rebecca Knuth photo copyright to Sari Singerman

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Rebecca Knuth on bookpleasures.com. 

A retired professor from the University of Hawaii, Rebecca is renowned for her expertise in censorship and cultural destruction, which she extensively explored in her groundbreaking work, Libricide. 

This book documents the regime-sponsored destruction of books and libraries throughout the 20th century.
 
After her distinguished academic career, Rebecca made a bold decision to transition to creative nonfiction. This courageous move involved earning a third master’s degree and immersing herself in London’s vibrant literary scene. It reflects her determination and passion for literature. She chronicles her experiences in London in her memoir, London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement, a journey of inspiration that we will delve into today.

Her memoir is a vivid exploration of her personal and professional renewal in one of the world’s great literary capitals. It symbolizes not just a geographical shift, but also a profound redefinition of her relationship with literature.

Rebecca now resides in Portland, Oregon, where she continues to contribute to the writing community.

Norm: Good day, Rebecca, and thank you for participating in our interview.

You begin your memoir describing yourself as a “battered academic,” feeling emotionally exhausted and creatively stifled. Can you share the moment—whether personal or professional—that made you realize you needed to step away from academia and seek a reinvention? Did you have any fears about leaving behind your identity as a professor? How did you navigate those fears as you started your new life in London?

Rebecca: A regular faculty meeting lasting four hours left me devastated. Alienated from an increasingly bureaucratized university, chaffing from a system that I once loved, I was ready to move on. 

I had reinvented myself before and trusted in my instincts. I overcame angst by concentrating and making small adjustments and remaining committed and positive.

Norm: Your journey in London is characterized by a transformative embrace of vulnerability—becoming a student again, learning new skills, and building a new social circle. This significant change in your approach to life and learning profoundly altered your sense of self. Could you explain how the transformative power of vulnerability influenced your journey? 

Were there times when you felt like an imposter, especially in your creative writing or tour guide courses? How did you overcome those feelings?

Rebecca: Vulnerability opens the door to change. Many professionals, entrenched in an identity that holds doubt and feedback at bay, are loathe to give up their stature and identity. But, as described in London Sojourn, I had stepped out of my comfort zone before and repeatedly reinvented myself. I knew that my life had been enhanced by risk-taking. 

I upended the imposter syndrome by confidently acting “as if” I were already a student, guide, or popular writer and already knew how to live the nonfiction life I was pursuing.  I just had to ride out feelings of vulnerability—after all, one didn’t die from them—and the end goal (actualization) was worth a little psychic discomfort. 

Norm: Tony, your longtime friend in London, is described as a steady and supportive presence throughout the memoir. His friendship significantly influenced your experiences and helped you process your transformation. Can you elaborate on how his friendship affected your journey?

In what ways did your relationships with classmates and neighbors in London challenge or reinforce your evolving sense of identity?

Rebecca: Tony got me out and about and supplied a lens to view Britain. As we talked things through, I could contrast his pre-retirement life (his clinging to what was) with my adventure. I bonded as well as differentiated myself. He accepted me and had nothing vested in possessing or directing my development. My classmates and neighbors accepted me as well and that made reinvention possible.

Norm: You mention that your research on silenced women writers serves as a reflection of your own life. How did studying Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, and Virginia Woolf help you clarify your own story? Was there a specific moment or discovery in your research that marked a turning point in your feminist awakening?

Rebecca: The lives of famous women writers taught me that beliefs about femininity have denied women writing and public presence. I was particularly struck by Virginia Woolf’s comments typifying both Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot as fighters. Women writers, including me, have had to fight to be heard.   

Norm: By the end of the memoir, you’ve integrated your academic, creative, and emotional selves. How do you define your “true self” now compared to who you were at the beginning of your journey?

Do you believe this integration can only occur through a significant life change, or can it also be nurtured in smaller ways?

Rebecca: My experience in London and writing this memoir clarified my entire life journey. I learned that I have engaged in a life-long fight to be heard. While London signaled a quantum leap forward in integrating my life, I have always been growing into my true self and am still  engaged in defining myself even in my Seventies, still growing.

Norm: The quest for a new voice is central to your memoir. What was the most challenging aspect of transitioning from academic writing to creative nonfiction, and how did you discover your authentic voice?

Did you ever worry that your creative writing wouldn’t be considered “serious” enough? How did you reconcile your academic background with your new creative aspirations?

Rebecca: By leaving academia, I opted out of a rigid writing system where academic gatekeepers monitored what was published and how it must be written;  writers had to keep themselves out of their work. In London I began taking myself seriously (instead of the system) and developed a voice. I had to show readers who I was, rather than maintain objectivity and dispassionate analysis. I began to express myself freely and use my academic background (research skills and content knowledge) to buttress rather than stifle creativity. The most challenging part was learning to tell stories and substitute a narrative arc for standard academic templates.

Norm: Your idealized vision of England was gradually replaced by a more complex, multicultural reality. How did your expectations of “Englishness” change as you lived in London? 

Did you ever feel like an outsider in London, and how did that shape your sense of belonging or home?

Rebecca: I had to update my reading-acquired sense of England as Agatha Christie and Jane Austen, villages, Oxford, and fair play. But I still think many of the behaviors and beliefs of a tolerant and diverse Englishness, now encompassing globalism, are worth holding dear. 

Norm: The theme of reinvention at any age is powerful in your memoir. What advice would you give to someone who feels it’s “too late” to start over or try something new? 

How did your age and life stage influence the way you approached your reinvention? Were there unique challenges or advantages to starting over in your sixties?

Rebecca: I am lucky that retirement and financial security made this relocation and experiment possible. Also, optimism and giving myself permission to seize opportunities has been crucial to my small or large reinventions. 

Age was a decided advantage in that I came to London with significant life experience, but it was a disadvantage when my relentless pace, which I was physically incapable of sustaining, exhausted me. Ironically, I came to appreciate  peace and reflection over constant stimulation.

Norm: Your memoir blends personal anecdotes, travelogue, and literary criticism. What inspired you to use this hybrid style, and how did it help you tell your story? Were there moments when you struggled to balance the personal and the intellectual in your writing? How did you decide what to include and what to leave out?

Rebecca: My memoir, like most, dwells on what preoccupies me. London Sojourn began as a diary, but I soon opted for chapters, a narrative arc, and themes. I arrive at a hybrid style incrementally as a way to present the variety of insights I’d gleaned from books and experiences.

I struggled with voice, lightening up, and freeing myself from academic “seriousness” and detached analysis. I had to make everything personal and leave out extraneous details no matter how much I loved them. They were just noise. My rule of thumb was to include only that which supported my themes and narrative.  

Norm: You use flashbacks to provide context for your transformation. How did revisiting your past help you make sense of your present? Were there any memories or experiences that were particularly difficult to write about? How did you approach those moments with honesty and compassion?

Rebecca: A memoir often involves a quest in which the subject begins in one state, encounters challenges, transforms, and returns home–the usual hero’s quest. London Sojourn follows this trajectory but recounts just one of the multiple quests that defined me. Flashbacks helped me tease out how I’d become who I was and how the city had facilitated that. 

I had to make sense of my parents and programming. The most difficult thing to write about was my mother. I was still separating from her and her helplessness induced sadness and guilt. The feminine mandate of self-sacrifice is weighty. I tried to be supportive of myself, to remain emotionally open, and survive my choices.  

Norm: While the memoir ends with a sense of closure, it also leaves the idea that reinvention is an ongoing process. How do you see your journey continuing now that you're back in the U.S.A.? Is your memoir a story of arrival, or is it more about the journey itself?

Rebecca: London Sojourn is an account of a life in process. I evolved and then was tasked with returning “home” and translating that into meaningful living. Life tends to be cyclic: a series of change points, then stasis, then movement, then stasis, and so on. Returning home from London heralded a new period of stasis in which I consolidated my life and writing style. But then I began defining myself as old, as being at a potential dead end, and stasis had to be upended yet again. I rolled back the years with another transformation.

Norm: Your prose is clear, reflective, and accessible. How did you develop this style, and how did it evolve as you wrote the memoir? 

Did you have any models or mentors who influenced your writing style? How did your creative writing course shape your approach to memoir?

Rebecca: My academic style was heavy and dense. I had two thoughts on rereading Libricide recently: first, “what a brainiac I was” and, second, how heavy going it was.

The London writing course introduced me to the basic principles of creative nonfiction. Since then, wonderful editors have pushed me hard, and my current style reflects years of writing classes, conferences, books on writing, and practice. I wrote and rewrote three books, including one about a historical serial killer (coming out in 2027) and most notably, London Sojourn. 

I’ve recently put my acquired writing style to work in unlocking content unearthed as a specialist in the violent destruction of books and libraries. The book on Nazi book burning I’m writing continues my fight against silencing and to make knowledge accessible.

Norm: As we conclude our interview, where can our readers find out more about you and London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement?

Rebecca: I have a WEBPAGE: but readers can find me in London Sojourn. I poured myself into the memoir and it is as true as I can make it. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors