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
Unconventional Nelson
10.20.2018 - I told the UPS clerk my Mom’s first name was unconventional. #AmericanSentences When Bhakti and I were in Chicago last September, my Ma, Lesbia Nelson, was having lower back pain and so...
Feast on TISH & Cascadia
There is a great review of two door-stopping books of poetry in the new BC Booklook. The subjects are Daphne Marlatt and Fred Wah, two members of the legendary TISH group in Vancouver, BC, in the...
American Prophets Pre-Sales
SPLAB turns 25 on December 14, 2018, and we'll be celebrating in the town where SPLAB was founded, Auburn, Washington, the former Slaughter. I am asking readers of this blog and supporters of...
Tim McNulty Interview (Olympic National Park Natural History)
Interview with Tim McNulty on Olympic National Park: A Natural History 4th Edition. Recorded Sunday, October 28, 2018, at the home of Tim & Mary McNulty, Lost Mountain, WA There is something...
Elizabeth Cooperman, Thomas Walton, The Last Mosaic (Interview)
Interview with Elizabeth Cooperman and Thomas Walton on their book The Last Mosaic, published by Sagging Shorts, a division of Sagging Meniscus. Recorded Sunday, October 7, 2018, at the home of...
Deep in Cascadia
Huge thanks to Adelia MacWilliam, Danika Dinsmore, Dominick DellaSala and all the attendees and participants at the first Deep in Cascadia Poetics Retreat in Cumberland, BC. Special thanks to Andrew...
The Cards I Got (2018)
Here are two short videos of the postcards I received during the 12th August POetry POstcard Fest. #APPF12. These cards were the ones I received by September 4, 2018. 50 as of mail delivery time...
#APPF12 (2018) Afterword
I did not get a chance to write about my experience with the 12th August POetry POstcard Fest yesterday as I was leaving Ian, Jennifer and Gavia Boyden and their home on San Juan Island with my...
Audio Archive Donated to WRVM
It's official now. The historic radio interview archive that was created mostly between 1993 and 2004 will now be housed at and preserved by the White River Valley Museum in beautiful Auburn,...
BAAM Fest
I have only lived in the Rainier Beach neighborhood for thirteen months, but already have the distinct pleasure of sharing some of my poems at the annual BAAMfest. Cindi Laws is the organizer and is...
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...
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 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.