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
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...
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...
Zhang Er Interview
A year after Sam Hamill’s death, in what might be his last book blurb, he writes: “Zhang Er brings us startling “burial ground poems from Chinese that are striking in their perspective and elegant...
American Prophets Review
Delighted to see a kind review of American Prophets that ran in an actual NEWSPAPER! How about that. Thank you Barbara McMichael for this: The book has now sold TENS of copies! Thanks to everyone...
Cascadia Poetry Fest in Anacortes
What great coverage in the Anacortes Arts Briefings newsletter on our May 9-12 festival: Gold Passes admit the holder to all events except Steve Kuusisto's master workshop “Have Dog, Will Travel: A...
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.