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
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EBSN4 Report – Brussels
I'm back from an epic trip to Brussels, Belgium, where I attended the 4th European Beat Studies Network Conference. I had a chance to interview Polina McKay, one of the co-founders of the Network....
American Sentences at Andaluz! Nov 8
Hey, I am re-posting this with a sincere request to you to consider attending this event and hang out after somewhere in Columbia City. This book has been 14 years in the making & the form,...
Giverny & Rouen Cathedral
I am honored to have been included in the 4th European Beat Studies Network conference, which is happening now in Brussels, Belgium. I was last in Brussels in 2010 for the Tools of the Sacred...
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.