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PAUL E NELSON

Cascadia Poetry Festival 8 Paul E Nelson at the microphone

Paul E Nelson presenting at Cascadia Poetry Festival 8, photo by Leszek Chudzinski

Over the past decade or so, no one has done more for poetry in the Pacific Northwest than has Paul Nelson.– Sam Hamill

Announcing En*trance Journal

Announcing En*trance Journal

I'm delighted to be an Editor-at-Large for a new journal out of Northern California called En*trance. It can be pronounced two ways, which says something about the kind of wide aesthetic it seeks to...

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Poetry at Cascadia BioFi

Poetry at Cascadia BioFi

Cascadia BioFi is happening Saturday May 17, and the Cascadia Poetics Lab will be presenting poetry with no admission charge at 7pm. The conference: "will bring together leaders at the edges of...

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Matt Trease The Outside

Matt Trease The Outside

I've known Matt Trease since he moved to Seattle in 2013. He's from Tennessee and has spent time in Ohio, Milwaukee and Chicago, and left his academic track just short of  his dissertation. We...

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AWP Readings

AWP Readings

I am delighted to participate in two readings at AWP which in L.A. this year. One is at the Asterism booth, #750, Thursday, March 27 at 11am. Asterism has picked up much of the slack of SPD's...

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Imbolc 2025 Dharma Position Daysong

Imbolc 2025 Dharma Position Daysong

I feel very fortunate to have successfully navigated another daysong, a day-long poem writing ritual. I set aside Imbolc 2025 to write, as that pagan holiday (& celebration of return of the...

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Announcing En*trance Journal

Announcing En*trance Journal

I'm delighted to be an Editor-at-Large for a new journal out of Northern California called En*trance. It can be pronounced two ways, which says something about the kind of wide aesthetic it seeks to...

read more
Sam O'Hana April 16, 2025

The interview I conducted with Sam O’Hana, a Ph.D. student at CUNY, is immensely critical and immensely validating for the work we do at the Cascadia Poetics Lab. At its core, the discussion is about whether writing is for people of means, or if it can be people who have skill and something to say. It means the literary gatekeepers have failed us and have a role in perpetuating neoliberalism in North America which has paved the way for authoritarianism. The interview is available as a podcast here and as a YouTube video here. Below, I have pasted in the transcript and here is my introduction to Sam O’Hana and his topic.

Sam O’Hana on Opening Poetry to the Working Class

by Paul E Nelson