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
American Sentences Talk
The second edition of my book of 17 syllable poems, American Sentences, was published in time for my 60th birthday party on September 22, 2021. Saturday, I'll have a chance to talk about the form,...
60th Birthday Interview of Paul E Nelson by Greg E Bem
Over the last few years there has been no one more active at reviewing my work and bringing exposure to it than Greg Bem. He is the P.R. guy you'd kill for, with video and audio editing skills and a...
100 Thousand Poets for Change
I'm delighted to be part of an event which has been happening for many years, organized and conceived of by Michael Rothenberg. 100 Thousand Poets for Change is the event, one for which I helped...
1st Podcast Robert Lashley
I have been asked many times: "Do you have a podcast?" Now, I can say "yes." Via the non-profit I founded in 1993, now known as the Cascadia Poetics LAB, we have launched Cascadian Prophets....
Paul @ 60 (You Are Invited)
It was 30 years ago when I was rather new at creating public affairs radio interviews, at age 29, when I had Dr. Bill Mitchell on the program discussing How To Live to 120: Bill made it to 60 and I...
Cascadian Zen
What is the nature of the bioregion known as Cascadia? How is this insight expressed by the people who live, work, practice, and play here? Is there a connection between Zen practice, broadly...
Samthology: A Tribute to Sam Hamill
by Paul E Nelson (Editor), Cate Gable (Editor), Lyn Coffin (Editor) A tribute to Sam Hamill in verse, essays and an exclusive interview, edited by Paul E Nelson, Ian Boyden and Cate Gable. Poems in...
Make it True Meets Medusario
Edited by Jose Kozer, Paul E Nelson, and Thomas Walton Make It True meets Medusario, a bilingual poetry anthology, brings together poets from divergent languages, cultures, and aesthetics to create...
A Time Before Slaughter: Pig War & Other Songs of Cascadia
By Paul E. Nelson In this epic poem, Paul Nelson re-enacts the history of Auburn, Washington, originally known as the town of Slaughter. Written in the spirit of William Carlos Williams, Charles...
American Prophets: Interviews With Thinkers, Activists, Poets and Visionaries
by Paul E. Nelson (Author), Allen Ginsberg, Wanda Coleman A book of sixteen interviews taken from the best of over 600 conducted by Seattle poet Paul E Nelson. The book includes an A-List of...
Rainier Beach Arts & Craft Market
I attended this market when Bhakti and I first moved to Rainier Beach in 2007 and I have been delighted to participate in in the last four or five years, excepting the pandemic time. Of course I'll...
Poet of Place (Joanne Kyger)
Today we present the video version of the interview I conducted with Jane Falk and Mary Paniccia Carden on the book Poet in Place and Time: Critical Essays on Joanne Kyger. Kyger is one of the most...
Andrew Schelling in Seattle and Port Townsend
Fans of the Cascadia Poetics Lab are no doubt familiar with Andrew Schelling, the poet/translator and Naropa professor. We have interviewed him on several occasions:...
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.