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
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393. Blown Up (2012 August Poetry Postcard Fest)
I am writing this post on July 27, 2012, after composing and documenting the first three poems I am sending in the 2012 August Poetry Postcard Fest. This was a project I conceived of and co-created...
2012 August Poetry Postcard Fest Afterword
I put my last two postcards from this year’s August Poetry Postcard fest in the mail today and, with the baby resting, have a few minutes to share my thoughts about how the fest went as is my wont...
The Four Hoarse Men
This past weekend was my first visit to Smoke Farm in Arlington, WA for the annual Lo-Fi Arts Festival. The farm was purchased in 1993 by the Rubicon Foundation which operates it as an arts and...
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.