Paul E Nelson presenting at Cascadia Poetry Festival 8, photo by Leszek Chudzinski
“Paul formally received the Mahayana precepts of Zen Buddhism in 2023, becoming a lay practitioner within the tradition, but I believe he had long lived in accord with them. His poetry, in its sensitivity, its humility, and its deep listening, embodies practice-realization — the understanding that practice and awakening are not separate. His writing was his zazen. This collection, FLEXIBLE MIND, is more than a book. It is a continuation of that practice. A testament to a man who lives by attention, who bows to language but does not cling to it, who seeks what lays beyond words by walking straight into them.”– Kosho Itagaki, Soto Zen Priest
Latest 2012 American Sentences
The period from which the latest batch of American Sentences is taken has now been added to the page for 2012 American Sentence highlights. Starting in early July, these recent sentences include the...
Nate Mackey Interview, Part 2
In the first part of my latest (8.24.12) interview with poet, editor, essayist and novelist Nate Mackey, he discussed the serial poem, the open nature of it and how the poem itself guides the...
425. to Marjorie Rommel, Kent, WA – Western Front
424. to Jim Teeters, Kent, WA – Passerine Melody
423. to Joanne Clarkson, Olympia, WA – Other Side
Organic in Cascadia: A Sequence of Energies
Organic in Cascadia: A Sequence of Energies A presentation for UW Bothell Convergence on Poetics, September 30, 2012 (See also:...
422. to Lisa Janice Cohen, Newton, MA – Limbo w the Giant Uterus
The quote's from The Book of Runes. The uterus reference came from one of those Facebook graphics which I posted to my page the day I wrote this poem. Google lapsarian.
421. to Jenifer Browne Lawrence, Poulsbo, WA – The Turning Floor
420. to Lynne Shapiro, Hoboken, NJ – No Solo Ex Nihilo
CONVERGENCE ON POETICS
I am delighted to be a part of this Conference at UW-Bothell this weekend. I present Sunday at 12N on "Organic in Cascadia: A Sequence of Energies." WITH Charles Altieri Marie Annharte Charles...
Poetry Warrior
I am delighted to be part of the Dispatches from the Poetry Wars website. I have great respect and admiration for the main co-conspirators, Michael Boughn and Kent Johnson and they have me in good...
Vancouver Island Events
Please be sure to scroll down on this one, otherwise you'd think I am wanted for something: But it's a nice article by Josef Jacobson: Click on either image to see the piece. Other gigs on the...
George Lakey Interview (How We Win)
What a magnificent opportunity I had to interview George Lakey on January 11, 2019, on Capitol Hill. I had interviewed him MANY YEARS ago on non-profit development and this time it was about his...
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.