Tamiko Nimura

Tamiko Nimura, Ph.D., is an award-winning Asian American (Sansei/Pinay) creative nonfiction writer, community journalist, and public historian. She writes from an interdisciplinary space at the intersection of her love of literature, grounding in American ethnic studies, inherited wisdom from teachers and activists, and storytelling through history. Her work has appeared in a variety of national and international outlets, including San Francisco Chronicle, Smithsonian Magazine, Off Assignment, Narratively, The Rumpus, SFMOMA Open Space, and Seattle’s International Examiner.

A two-time VONA Voices fellow, she has received awards from the Ford Foundation, Artist Trust, City of Tacoma Artists Initiative, the Tacoma Arts Commission, and the Tacoma Historical Society. Her commissioned work includes a California permanent exhibit, a co-authored graphic novel titled We Hereby Refuse, and a 10+-year series of essays for the Japanese American National Museum. She is a board member of the Tule Lake Committee. Her forthcoming memoir is titled A PLACE FOR WHAT WE LOSE: A DAUGHTER’S RETURN TO TULE LAKE (University of Washington Press). As the direct descendant of Japanese American World War II incarcerees, Tamiko has worked to keep this history alive through her writing and public speaking.

Chapters is a multi-part series concerning the history and the lessons of civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices carried out against communities or populations—including civil rights violations or civil liberties injustices that are perpetrated on the basis of an individual’s race, national origin, immigration status, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

This project was made possible with support from Chapman University and The California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, a state-funded grant project of the California State Library.

Guest: Tamiko Nimura
Host: Jon-Barrett Ingels
Produced by: Past Forward
Date recorded: September 10, 2025

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