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
Reading in Ukiah
I will be heading to extreme Southern Cascadia Thursday, and go out of the bioregion to read in Ukiah, California. I am headed south to meet and interview Mary Norbert Körte, a poet, and former...
Happy 87th Michael McClure
I loved hearing Michael McClure and Allen Ginsberg at Naropa in 1976. See:...
Red Pine (Bill Porter) Interview
I had the good fortune to visit Bill Porter, the translator of ancient Chinese poetry and sacred texts, and interview him at his Port Townsend home on August 28, 2019. His latest books at the time...
Notes on The Undercommons
Nate Mackey tipped me off a few years ago to the work of Fred Moten and few months ago I came across a New Yorker article about a book Moten co-wrote with Stefano Harney entitled: The Undercommons:...
Write On Door County Sept 2019 Residency
I'm near the end of my week-long writing residency at Write On Door County. Postcard poet Sharon Auberle tipped me off to this writing center in the part of Wisconsin that sticks into Lake Michigan....
Happiness & Spirituality
my friend Jason Wirth is producing a couple of worthwhile events: Happiness & Spirituality How the concept of Gross National Happiness intertwines with Vajrayana Buddhism Lopen Gem Dorji (Gembo)...
The Cards I Got (APPF13 2019)
I have been holding off on taking and posting my annual picture of poetry postcards received during this year's August Poetry Postcard Fest. If I counted right, I got 62 cards: This is a shot taken...
SPLAB @ &Now Cascadia by Anthology
I am delighted to be part of the &Now Conference, which is being staged at UW-Bothell, September 19-22, 2019, with a rather remarkable collection of "experimental" poets.Not sure what word is...
#APPF13 Wrapup (What I Wrote)
It seems rather overwhelming to summarize my experience as a participant of the 13th August Poetry Postcard Fest which longtime participant Terry Holzman a few years ago nicknamed PoPo and an...
The Joy of Postcards (Aug 2019 Reviews)
I titled my APPF essay for Rattle "The Joy of Postcards" but even though I was likening this activity to the subject of a famous book from the 60s, I was not far off based on some feedback from some...
Bradner Gardens August 12
My annual appearance at Bradner Gardens with the Jim O'Halloran group is happening August 12, 2023 at 6pm and Lorna Dee Cervantes has been a late addition to the bill. The garden is a jewel of the...
Margin Shift August 3, 2023
Lorna Dee Cervantes has been added to the Margin Shift lineup for Thursday, August 3, 2023. I hope to see you there: Thursday, August 3, 2023 7pm Seattle Theosophical Library 717 Broadway Av E,...
Bradner Gardens Reading, Margin Shift
It might be the 56 Days of August, but I'll take a break from writing postcards for a moment to read at two local cultural events that I've been part of before. Margin Shift: Friends in Poetry has...
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.