Staff profile

I am a Creative Writing PhD candidate based in the Department of English Studies at Durham University, specialising in eco-writing and ecocriticism. I am also a tutor for the first-year module ENGL1061–Introduction to the Novel in the 2025–2026 academic year.

Project Overview

My practice-led research combines critical studies of contemporary ecofiction from an eco-narratological approach with the development of a full-length eco-novel that reflects on modern lifestyles, explores ecological interconnectedness, and experiments with non-human narratives. My project is guided by an interdisciplinary supervisory team comprising Professor Naomi Booth and Professor Barry Sheils from the Department of English Studies, and Dr William Schaefer from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures. I am part of a cohort generously funded by Durham’s Environmental Humanities Doctoral Scholarship, alongside two other candidates conducting research in the burgeoning field of Environmental Humanities.

My Background

Born and raised in China, I hold a BA in Business Economics with a minor in Film and TV Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and an MA in Creative Writing (with distinction) from the University of Manchester. Before transitioning to fiction, I worked as a screenwriter for six years, during which I wrote six feature-length screenplays and contributed to the development of over twenty film projects, including The Meg (2018) and Wish Dragon (2021). Additionally, I spent three years working as an education consultant in China, tutoring high school students in English writing and university applications until I began my master’s studies in 2022, when I discovered my passion for ecofiction and ecocriticism.

My Publications

My short story, ‘Catkins’, an eco-feminist work that explores themes of isolation, disconnection, and pollution through the lens of a young woman trying to free herself at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, was published in Oranges Journal and nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology 2024. I have also published creative nonfiction, ‘Dinner with a Former Colleague’, which documents my experiences in the Chinese film industry, in Spellbinder Quarterly. I have won a poetry prize from the same magazine for my eco-poem, ‘Armour Shouldn’t Be Sharp’.

Research Interests

• Ecofiction
• Eco-narratology
• Ecocriticism
• Posthumanism
• Non-human Narratives
• Chinese Ecofiction
• Speculative Fiction
• Environmental Philosophy
• Non-human Ethics

Enquiries about my research and potential collaboration opportunities are warmly welcomed at yirou.he@durham.ac.uk