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Li Hou, a doctoral candidate in the College of Education’s Language, Literacy & Culture (LLC) program and an ENGLWRIT 112 instructor in the UMass Amherst Writing Program, has released two new books in 2025.

Under the pen name of Lan Xiaoxiu, Hou has written “Pin Hun: Understanding the Emotional Lives of Chinese Women,” published in the United Kingdom, and “Sometimes I Pretend to Be Rational,” published in mainland China.

A multilingual writer and widely recognized Chinese author, Hou draws on her lived experiences across China, the U.K. and the United States to examine how everyday emotions, cultural rhythms and social expectations shape contemporary womanhood. The new publications advance her long-standing work on women’s emotional lives, cross-cultural identity and cross-cultural narrative writing.

Hou says that her dual background as a researcher and writer allows her to bridge academic inquiry with accessible narrative, offering insights meaningful to readers across cultures.