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
Russell Means, Dead at 72
Russell Means died on Monday morning, October 22, 2012, on his ranch on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. I had the good fortune to be able to interview him in October 1995 when he...
Nate Mackey Interview Part 5
In part 5 of my August 24, 2012 Skype interview with poet Nate Mackey, he discusses his method of writing poetry, how it is not done from an outline and a notion from the book A Musical View...
Willie Smith on Spider F&^k and other stories from Nothing Doing
Willie Smith got his B.A. at Reed College (graduating Phi Beta Kappa) and is the author of Nothing Doing, a book that he claims is fictional. In an interview recorded at his Beacon Hill home on...
Happy 80th Michael McClure
Michael McClure turns 80 today, October 20, 2012. A leading USAmerican poet, playwright, essayist and novelist, he was born in Kansas, but spent some of his formative years in Seattle and is...
Haibun in Hambone
I can't tell you how honored I am to have five (5!) of my Haibun de la Serna poems published in the brand new edition of Hambone 20. Nate Mackey is the editor and this magazine has been publishing...
Nate Mackey Interview, Part 4
In part four of my August 24, 2012 interview with poet Nate Mackey, he talks about his practice of 2nd takes in his books Splay Anthem and Nod House, the allusions to Jazz suggested by such a...
Lit Crawl Thursday, Oct 18, 2012
Yes, yet another Lit Crawl, but this one is HUGE. On Thursday, Oct. 18, Lit Crawl Seattle kicks off City Arts Fest with 17 FREE events throughout Capitol Hill with 60+ readers and performers,...
Rainforest Writing Retreat, Part 2
Tuesday, October 7, I was almost set for starting the literary portion of my writing retreat. (For my first post on the rainforest writing retreat, click here.) Side trips to the Elwha Dam removal...
71. The Ambassador From Bakersfield
(Click on the poem to get the full text as a pdf.)
427. – Not Yet Muddy
427. to Ramon Hildreth, SeaTac, WA – Not Yet Muddy 9.26.12 Medora, ND, Ramon – Loaded w/ egg-salad and roast beast sangwiches, pass Oink Joint Rd. & Peace Pipe Vista to a ...
August POetry POstcard Fest 2019 (Official Call)
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2019 marks the thirteenth year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual...
Zhang Er Interview
A year after Sam Hamill’s death, in what might be his last book blurb, he writes: “Zhang Er brings us startling “burial ground poems from Chinese that are striking in their perspective and elegant...
American Prophets Review
Delighted to see a kind review of American Prophets that ran in an actual NEWSPAPER! How about that. Thank you Barbara McMichael for this: The book has now sold TENS of copies! Thanks to everyone...
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.