The writer, artist, and scientist Dr. Keiko Honda discusses her new memoir Words That Last (Caitlin Press, 2026), with Joseph Planta.
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Words That Last by Keiko Honda (Caitlin Press Press, 2026).
Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Words That Last [1] |
Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.
One of the more absorbing books of the season is the third memoir by Dr. Keiko Honda, Words That Last. In the book, she writes of the writing she’s read, that has stayed with her. Some of the Japanese literature and poetry goes back hundreds of years, and she offers the reader a translation as well as an examination or analysis of the meaning of certain words or phrases that she applies upon her own life. She is as she writes in the book nearly sixty years old, and a wheelchair user because of a rare autoimmune disease she contracted twenty years ago. It was because of this illness she had to leave the field of epidemiology; she was a researcher at Columbia University. This perspective of time, as well as loss throughout her life offers her a chance to reflect. The white spaces in the margins or at the end of the printed text in the book offer a marvelous opportunity for the reader to fill in either figuratively or literally, their own thoughts and remembrances. The book also features art painted by Keiko, which showcase her talent as an artist. Keiko joins me now, in a conversation we taped last week. I’ll ask her about her keen powers of observation, writing and reading, as well as friendships. She’s got a marvelous perspective when it comes to life itself from her vantage point, which she deploys as we see how others act around her. There are great lessons in the book as to how to act with grace with others, everybody if we can, as well as the importance of lifelong learning. Keiko Honda is a scientist, writer and community organiser. She moved to Vancouver in 2009, and soon after began hosting artists salons as a way of building bridges and making connection. She founded the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society. Words That Last is published by Caitlin Press. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Keiko Honda; Dr. Honda, good morning.
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