Noriko Nakada
At Home in America
How I wrote “At Home in America”
Last summer wasn’t an easy one, so after packing up my parents’ house and settling my dad in assisted living, my family and I made our way to Central Oregon for a quick vacation. I also started writing with Jami Attenberg’s 1000 Words of summer project. This got me to the page each day, and as our vacation unfolded, this essay began to emerge.
Noriko Nakada writes, blogs, tweets, parents, and teaches middle school in Los Angeles. She is committed to writing thought-provoking creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. Publications include the Through Eyes Like Mine memoir series. Excerpts, essays, and poetry have been published in Kartika, Catapult, Meridian, Hippocampus, Linden Avenue and elsewhere.