Q&A With Tamiko Nimura 

I’m honored to be doing this Q&A with Tamiko Nimura who’s the author of the memoir A Place For What We Lose: A Daughter’s Return to Tule Lake. 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Tamiko! Would you please give a brief description of A Place For What We Lose? 

A: Thanks for having me! A Place For What We Lose is an intergenerational, dialogic family memoir. It’s the story of how I learned to grieve my Japanese American father after decades by rereading his unpublished memoir of wartime incarceration and going on community pilgrimage to the site where he and our family members were incarcerated. I incorporate pieces of his book in my own memoir and respond to them in many different ways.

Q: How long did it take you to write A Place For What We Lose? What made now the right time to write it? 

A: Fifteen years, off and on. I knew I wanted to complete it, but it was a heavy emotional lift. During the COVID-19 lockdown I enrolled in a yearlong memoir writing class, which made me commit to the project on a weekly basis for months. 

Q: What messages and reminders do you hope readers get after they read A Place For What We Lose? What emotions do you hope they feel? 

A: I hope that readers come away from the book feeling the power of grieving and healing in community. Grief can be such an isolating experience that community is even more important to remember during those times. And I hope they will feel moved to take action against the dehumanizing forces of incarceration and xenophobia that we are facing now. 

Q: Will your second book be like A Place For What We Lose? Or will you try your hand at fiction this time? 

A: This is actually my third book; my first book was a biography/oral history, and the second book was a graphic novel. Readers can find out more about these books on my author website (https://www.tamikonimura.net). I do want to try my hand at fiction sometime soon in the next few projects, though.

Q: Were there parts in the memoir that were difficult to write about or did it feel cathartic? 

A: There were many, many parts that were difficult—and much of them felt cathartic. Writing about my father’s death, which I had not really processed, was probably the hardest part. But I am grateful that I was able to also go back and document and retrieve many of the wonderful memories that I had of him.

Q: Would you please put your social media links so that the readers of the blog and I may follow your work?

A: Sure! Instagram: @tamikonimura, Bluesky: @tamikonimura.bsky.social.net