Dr Shi Huiwen completed her PhD in the School of English at The University of Hong Kong. Her thesis won her the HKU Graduate School’s outstanding research student award, and her book, Seamus Heaney and Contemporary Elegy is published as part of Routledge Studies in Irish Literature.

 

Dr Shi’s research interests lie in contemporary poetics, Service-Learning, digital storytelling, Hong Kong theatre, and English language pedagogy.

 

She has been trained as a literary scholar in both English and Chinese literatures. Since she began her literary education at Fudan, she has researched critical and comparative approaches to literature and culture. She has taught subjects such as “Introduction to Literature”, “English for Academic Studies”, “Modernism”, “English Stylistics and Rhetoric”, “Oral Communication in English”, and “Creative Writing” at CUHK, HKU, and PolyU CPCE. In these different courses she has emphasised both the practical side of language learning and the critical/creative edge developed through cultural cultivation. Her teaching aims to make multilingualism the basis for students to become global citizens and cosmopolitan humanists.

 

Her Service-Learning subject, “Storytelling for Understanding: Refugee Children in Hong Kong”, uses personal narratives as an instrument to facilitate deeper cultural learning and better community service. The subject also won her the honourable mention of the Federation for Self-financing Tertiary Education’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2025.

 

Dr Shi writes theatre reviews in Chinese, and creative nonfiction, poetry and book reviews in English. As a professional member of the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), she has published nearly 30 Chinese theatre and arts reviews. Dr Shi is also the editor-in-chief for Language Collage, a literary magazine showcasing creative and critical work from the Division of Languages and Communication of PolyU CPCE.