Q LIN

Q is a poet, educator, and mother of four.

After years in academic leadership, she was unexpectedly made redundant during a wave of institutional restructuring. Instead of vanishing, she wrote.

Her debut book, They Fired Me, I Rehired Myself, is a diary of collapse, courage, and quiet rebuilding—a journey back to voice, purpose, and inner conviction.

As she once described herself in her twenties—

and now again in They Fired Me, I Rehired Myself:

“'Q has the charm

of a young girl,

and the righteous courage

of a young boy

who draws a sword

against injustice.'

Years have passed.

The mirror shows someone older, maybe quieter.

But beneath all that time, all that quiet—

the same fire remains.

All these years, reality has tried again and again

to dim its light and warmth—

but it’s still there,

flickering gently.

I am still who I was. ”