I am delighted to be part of the Cascadian Zen weekend at Seattle U, which I am helping to organize with Shin Yu Pai and Jason Wirth. Shin Yu is the former Poet Laureate of Redmond and Jason is Professor of Philosophy at S.U., and a Soto Zen Priest.
Organized loosely around exploring the relationship between the Cascadian bioregion as it intersects with Zen ideas, practices, and aesthetics, Shin Yu Pai, Jason Wirth and Paul E Nelson are hosting a diverse group of writers who are interested in broadly exploring the question of “What is Cascadian Zen?” through their poetic and/or philosophical writing.
What: Cascadian Zen
Where: Seattle U., Wyckoff Aud.
When: Fri & Sat, Feb 14, 15, 2020
Time: Friday: 3pm-8pm, Saturday, 9am-6pm
Cost: FREE
I am going to get a dress rehearsal for my presentation, Monday, February 10, 2020, at Folio, at 1pm, as part of the Folio Poets Society, or Folio PoSo as I like to call it. The member-supported library is at the historic Pike Place Market (the soul of Seattle) with views of Elliott Bay and, on a nice day, the Olympic Mountains.
What: Cascadian Zen
Where: Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum, 93 Pike St. #307, Seattle, WA 98101
When: Monday, Feb 10, 2020
Time: 1pm
Cost: Free to Folio members, a suggested donation for the general public
I have developed a presentation that looks at SPLAB’s 20 year bioregional cultural investigation of Cascadia. It started in 2012, with the first Cascadia Poetry Festival and continues via that fest (happening again May 1-3, 2020, at the Multiverse on San Juan Island; via ongoing interviews (see the 1994-2005 era ones here) and my own poems and literary activism. The Seattle U event will be videotaped and put online before too long.
One last heads-up for now. As to my poetry, my ongoing serial poem re-enacting the history of Cascadia, Pig War& Other Songs of Cascadia, is being expanded. The publisher of my first book A Time Before Slaughter, Apprentice House has agreed to publish a tenth anniversary edition, to be launched at Open Books, April 11. Does this mean the old edition of ATBS is now going to be a collector’s item? Buy some copies now just in case.
What: ATBS/PW&OSoC
Where: Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 2414 North 45th St. Seattle, WA 98103
When: Saturday, April 11, 2020
Time: 7pm
Cost: Free, but buy a book for the love of the Baby Jesus!
Paul,
I was once a practitioner and admirer of Zen and the traditions associated with it, as I still am with Buddhism, including Chan, Daoism, Sufism, shamanism, etc. However, i became extremely disillusioned with 20th century Zen, after reading the incredible book Zen at War, by Brian Daizen Victoria (Bowman and Littlefield, 2006). I highly recommend this text for a serious critique of what Zen became under Japanese imperialism. Zen institutions and its intellectual heritage needs serious revision before I could promote it again.