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
Responding to the Black Mystery School Pianists
I saw this article linked in an article I was reading and then a friend sent it to me, so there was something synchronistic about it right off the bat. “God’s way of remaining anonymous” some wise...
McClure’s Last Book Mule Kick Blues
Michael McClure died one year ago, May 4, 2020 and the last book he wrote will be launched by legendary publisher City Lights May 8, 2021, via Zoom, 3pm. A memorial tribute to Michael with readings...
Armenian Genocide
I was delighted to hear that President Biden announced that for the first time in history the United States recognizes the Armenian genocide perpetrated by Turkey in 1915. See:...
The Wig Maker
How the life story of a woman abandoned by her mother and abused as a child by her father was turned into experimental lyric poetry is the premise of a book by Janet Gallant as told to Sharon Thesen...
Earth Day @ NorthWind
Has a nice ring to it, eh? Rob Lewis is one of three poets reading 7pm PDT Thursday, April 22, 2021 as part of the regular Northwind Reading Series. From the Northwind folk: To celebrate Earth Day...
Read/Study Mackey’s Double Trio
If not the culmination of a 40+ year serial poetry effort by perhaps the world's leading living practitioner of that stance toward poem making, it is a huge new hunk. Matt Trease and I look forward...
Last Year’s Pandemic Postcard (Not Yet)
My practice each morning includes reading the journal entry from the same day of the previous year. For instance, today I read Monday, April 6, 2020. It was Day 24 of the Shelter-in-Place...
Wild Roof Journal Interview
I was fortunate to have been interviewed by the kind folks at Wild Roof Journal, a periodical which takes its name from a William Blake poem. We discussed the Poetry Postcard Fest, spontaneous...
Holly J. Hughes Interview
Holly Hughes is the author of Hold Fast, Sailing by Ravens, coauthor of The Pen and The Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World, and editor of the award-winning anthology, Beyond Forgetting: Poetry...
Mammal Grafting
I am going to post this today though I am going to release it as a "page" or doc in Week Two of my current workshops series A Sequence of Energies. There is still room in this workshop, Sunday...
DaySong Miracle (Past 62)
DaySong Miracle (Past 62) by Paul E. Nelson Published April 2024Greg Bem, Carbonation Press: This is third of four “DaySongs” Seattle poet Paul E. Nelson has completed. The ritual was designed for...
Cascadian Prophets: Interviews 1999-2023
Cascadian Prophets: Interviews 1999-2023 By Paul E NelsonEdited by Sharon Thesen Cascadian Prophets: Interviews 1999-2023 is the second collection of transcribed interviews taken from the 30 year...
Bradner Gardens Concert, Aug 17
I'm delighted to read poems again with the backing of the Jim O'Halloran Quartet, Saturday, August 17, 2024, 7pm at Bradner Gardens. The gardens are at 1730 Bradner Place South in the Mount Baker...
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.