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
National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month and Carolyne Wright has organized a fine group of local poets to celebrate on April 23rd from 6-8pm at legendary University Books in Seattle: Join us for an epic...
One Year After Sam Hamill’s Death
Sam Hamill left this earthly plane on April 14, 2018, and plans are underway to recognize that anniversary in a private and low-key ceremony, along with sushi and saké after, just as Sam would have...
Zen, Bioregionalism & Poetry
Upcoming poetry events are for people who are interested in the intersection of poetry and Zen and poetry and bioregionalism. April 11, at 7:30pm, the Seattle University Eco-Sangha presents Norman...
Interview on Spokane Public Radio
I had the good fortune of being interviewed in Spokane on my way to gigs in Billings, Montana. Chris Maccini of Spokane Public Radio did his homework and asked me about American Prophets, my poetry...
Off-Site @ AWP
The joy of hanging out with poets and NOT having to attend AWP!!! Thank you Knox Gardner for lining up this with your humble narrator and other SPLAB poets: Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 7:30 PM – 12M...
End of the World Anthology
I'm delighted to have work in a new anthology entitled The End of the World Project. It was compiled by Richard Lopez, John Bloomberg-Rissman and T.C. Marshall and is so huge that it takes two books...
Interview Workshop at Open Books
Interviewing as Inspiration, Research, and Documentation with Paul Nelson March 10 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, Open Books, 2414 N. 45th, Seattle. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of SPLAB (Seattle...
2.20.2019 Peter Levitt Interview
What joy in the good fortune of getting to interview Peter Levitt at his Salt Spring Island (BC) home. To see Cusheon Lake frozen so solidly that Peter reports there were people playing hockey on...
Poetry Warrior
I am delighted to be part of the Dispatches from the Poetry Wars website. I have great respect and admiration for the main co-conspirators, Michael Boughn and Kent Johnson and they have me in good...
Vancouver Island Events
Please be sure to scroll down on this one, otherwise you'd think I am wanted for something: But it's a nice article by Josef Jacobson: Click on either image to see the piece. Other gigs on the...
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.