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
Deborah Poe Interview (June 30, 2019)
Deborah Poe is the author of the poetry collections keep (from Dusie Press), the last will be stone, too (Stockport Flats), Elements (Stockport Flats), and Our Parenthetical Ontology (CustomWords),...
Interviewed by Ethelbert Miller
I was honored to be the subject of an interview by Ethelbert Miller for his weekly radio program in Washington, D.C., On The Margin. He had asked me for a copy of American Prophets months ago, set...
Subud House/Spring Street Center/Open House
I rarely write about my spiritual community, Subud, because one of Subud's cultural mores is to NOT proselytize and in practice that becomes NEVER TALK ABOUT IT, which would explain why the...
August POetry POstcard Fest 2020 (Official Call) #APPF14
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2020 marks the 14th year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual fundraiser for...
APPF13 Update
As of this writing there are 424 participants for the 13th August POetry POstcard Fest. Registration for 2019 ended July 18 and has BEGUN for APPF14. It will end July 4, 2020, earlier than in past...
August Poetry Postcard Fest 2019 Official Call
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2019 marks the thirteenth year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual...
APPF (Postcards Are Here Again)
The signup is already open for the 13th August Poetry Postcard Fest and opens EVEN EARLIER for 2020. (July 18, 2019!) In order to allow as many people as possible to participate in the joy of...
Sons & Daughters
Huge thanks to SPLAB Board Member and EasySpeak Seattle founder Peter Munro for tipping me off to a new journal named Sons & Daughters that seeks to publish work inspired by Charles Olson's...
Call for August Poetry Postcard Fest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SPLAB ISSUES CALL FOR 13TH AUGUST POETRY POSTCARD FEST Seattle, WA, June 5, 2019—Seattle Poetics LAB (SPLAB), a literary arts-oriented nonprofit organization and organizing...
CPF, BIPF, NYC, APPF13
I have been running since about May 7 and no rest in sight as I write this from Brooklyn, in the city that does not sleep because jackhammers start at 7am and people are never afraid to use their...
John Olson on The Day Song of Casa del Colibrí
It was wonderful seeing John and Roberta Olson, Willie Smith, Denis Mair, Phoebe Bosche, Trudy Mercer, Bart Baxter, Elliott Bronstein and other writers from the Red Sky Poetry Theater days at events...
The Tunnel: A Literary and Arts Crawl
I'm delighted to be part of a literary arts event Sunday, July 9 from 5-8pm. The Tunnel: A Literary and Arts Crawl is the mastermind of Greg Bem, who will be moving from Seattle to Spokane for a job...
Brenda-ized City Sonnet
For three full seasons (October-June, 2020-2023) I have conducted online workshops designed to allow poets who have participated in the Poetry Postcard Fest to go a little deeper into the process of...
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.