Paul E Nelson presenting at Cascadia Poetry Festival 8, photo by Leszek Chudzinski
Paul Nelson’s ongoing honing of the Day Song poetry event has produced some of the most lively and consequential verse of our time. How else write about the calamities and demands and mental/emotional/political consequences of the materialist apocalypse upon us, than an ongoing poesis of awareness and participation the anti-form the Day Song provides? Truly a praxis of proprioception and of Olson’s demand to “keep it moving…
– Sharon Thesen, Cascadian Poet/Scholar from B.C.
Poetry @ ScribFest
I'm delighted to be part of a panel and performance at ScribFest, Saturday, June 20, at 10am. From the ScribLab website: "Scrib Fest brings PNW performance writers together for a weekend of...
Xavier Cavazos interviews Paul E Nelson
I had the good fortune of being interviewed today by Xavier Cavazos for his class at Central Washington University. He prepared with some intelligent questions about poetry editing, curating...
PAMLA in Seattle in November
I got this today:Pacific Ancient and Modern Language AssociationTuesday, May 12, 2026Dear Paul Nelson,I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing to invite you (and your colleagues or graduate...
Rainier Beach Arts & Culture Roundtable #2
To network as neighborhood creatives, support arts and culture, improve the visibility of arts & culture in Rainier Beach and make the neighborhood a destination for arts & culture, we're...
Cascadia Day Poetry Explosion May 18 7pm
May 18 is Cascadia Day, because it is the anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.Bioregional journalist Andrew Engelson invited me to read at Vermillion, 1508 11th Avenue, May 18 at 7pm. Matt...
Interview with Deborah Poe on her Submission to Winter in America (Still
How does one make literary art about this time in history, that avoids rhetoric and facile political positioning in this era of the spectacle? How does one avoid being consumed by the simultaneous...
Theodore Roethke and the Birth of Cascadian Poetry
I'm honored to be giving a talk/reading on the subject of: Theodore Roethke and the Birth of Cascadian Poetry on May 12, 2026. I have been invited by The Friends of Roethke organization....
Paul E. Nelson, Clyfford Still Museum Institute Residential Fellowship Program
04.20.26 for immediate release The Clyfford Still Museum Institute Residential Fellowship Program has announced its 2026 selections and named Paul E. Nelson as one of the Residential Fellows for the...
Interview with Aldon Lynn Nielsen on Gil Scott-Heron
I was a sophomore at Wright Junior College in Chicago in 1981, quite determined to be a professional broadcaster, listening to the progressive FM station that shaped my whole cosmology when a song...
12 or 20 (second series) questions from rob mclennan
I was delighted to be interviewed via email by rob mclennan, a tireless Canadian poet and supporter of North American poetry. The link is:...
Paul Reads w/ Jim O’Halloran Quartert @ Bradner Gardens
It's that time of year again when I get to read some poems backed by a Jazz band led by my friend & Subud brother Jim O'Halloran. This year he has an impressive lineup and I am the only poet....
margareta waterman (1932-2026)
I was saddened to hear of the death of margareta waterman, who preferred to have her name spelled in lower case. I met her through Red Sky Poetry Theater, which had a large role in helping to...
In Honor of David McCloskey “The Father of Cascadia”
David McCloskey passed away on July 3. In honor of his lifetime of work to create and spread a culture that was deeply connected to the Cascadian bioregion, Cascadian Prophets, which owes more than just its name to his work, we want to share this interview from October, 2013. Find it transcribed on our website.
To listen to the original audio of this interview, click here.
Check out more of what the Lab does here, and listen to more current and archival podcasts on Spotify or on our website.
In Honor of David McCloskey "The Father of Cascadia"
How does one make literary art about this time in history that avoids rhetoric and facile political positioning in this era of the spectacle? How does one avoid being consumed by the simultaneous collapse of so many systems — some being eviscerated by people in positions designed to protect such systems? Deborah Poe has some idea based on her submission to the upcoming anthology Winter in America (Still.
Deborah is the author of several books of poetry including keep, Elements, and Our Parenthetical Ontology, as well as a novella in verse, Hélène. Her visual works–video poems and handmade book objects–have been exhibited throughout the US. She lives on stolen Coast Salish land, specifically the ancestral homeland of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Stillaguamish, and Muckleshoot People.
Check out more of what the Lab does here, and listen to more current and archival podcasts on Spotify or on our website.
To get original poetry right in your mailbox this summer, check out the Poetry Postcard Fest.