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
Postcards and Five Alarms
I was preparing for my reading tonight at the Five Alarms Lit Crawl in Greenwood. (Gratitud y Gracias to Aaron Kokorowski, Greg Bem, Graham Isaac, Bryan Miller & other organizers.) The Four...
Subud Zones Conference, U.S. National Congress
Today ends an eleven day period during which I have been VERY BUSY with gatherings sponsored by Subud. I was "opened" in Subud on June 27, 2004 and started taking the latihan kedjiwaan very...
George Stanley interview – After Desire
Yesterday (July 2, 2012) I was fortunate enough to get a chance to interview George Stanley at his Vancouver apartment. A San Francisco native, he studied with Jack Spicer and Robert Duncan in the...
Interview with Shahar Bram on The Stones
I had the good fortune to conduct an interview with Shahar Bram on June 17, 2012. His previous book Charles Olson and Alfred North Whitehead: An Essay on Poetry was a huge find during the middle of...
Reading at Jack Straw Productions, Saturday, June 16 5:30P
I was asked by Jack Straw to read as part of their 50th anniversary marathon, Saturday, June 16. I'll read around 5:30 with Stevie Kallos and Kathleen Alcala. Please consider attending. Jack Straw's...
Poetry/Flute
Jim O'Halloran is a Subud Brother, nurse and brilliant musician. He plays flute and does occasional gigs around town, always surrounding himself with other excellent musicians. We met at the Seattle...
Claustrophobia 5: The Overflowing Patio
Saturday, June 23, 2012, 3:00pm Rachel Hug's House: 4219 Letitia Av S (Lower Unit) Readers: Emily Kendal Frey, Paul Nelson, Kate Lebo I am so psyched to be reading with Emily and Kate. I hope Kate...
2012 Ginsberg Marathon
The 2012 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Marathon was a remarkable affair that set a new record for duration: 13.5 hours. BIG THANKS to Mickey O'Connor, Band of Poets, Greg Bem and his EVIL BEMPIRE featuring...
63. Her Birthday, My Velocity
Good Haibun/Bad Haibun
I prepared this handout for the May 1 SPLAB Living Room and it is the second such piece I have written about haibun. As you may know, one of my current writing projects is Haibun de la Serna. This...
Elizabeth Cooperman, Thomas Walton, The Last Mosaic (Interview)
Interview with Elizabeth Cooperman and Thomas Walton on their book The Last Mosaic, published by Sagging Shorts, a division of Sagging Meniscus. Recorded Sunday, October 7, 2018, at the home of...
Deep in Cascadia
Huge thanks to Adelia MacWilliam, Danika Dinsmore, Dominick DellaSala and all the attendees and participants at the first Deep in Cascadia Poetics Retreat in Cumberland, BC. Special thanks to Andrew...
The Cards I Got (2018)
Here are two short videos of the postcards I received during the 12th August POetry POstcard Fest. #APPF12. These cards were the ones I received by September 4, 2018. 50 as of mail delivery time...
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.