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
Claudia Castro Luna Interview, Part 1
Claudia Castro Luna is the incoming Poet Laureate of the state of Washington. For two years she had been the Civic Poet of Seattle, the city’s version of the ceremonial position. In this first part...
Cascadia Talk in Nanaimo, Retreat
It's been over five years since I published Why Cascadia, Why Poetry? In it I make the case for bioregionalism and poetry as part of a response to the decline of democracy in the United States,...
Audio Interview Archive Taking Shape
Thanks to a grant from 4Culture, the archive of interviews I have done over the years is being organized. Summaries of past interviews, going back to December 1990, are going up weekly...
Deep in Cascadia: What Does It Mean to Be Here/Write Here?
I am honored to be invited to talk in Nanaimo on January 21, 2018, to discuss Deep In Cascadia: What Does it Mean to be Here/Write Here? I am grateful to Carla Stein, Ann Graham Walker and the BC...
The New U.S. Civil War
No doubt by now you've heard about the vote of the U.S. Senate that would drastically revamp the U.S. tax code in a way that has not been attempted for over 30 years. The minority party (Democrats)...
Finn Menzies Interview
Finn Menzies is an out transgender teacher in Seattle, WA. His work is his spiritual practice and his activism. He received his MFA from Mills College. He is the creator of FIN Zine, a bi-annual...
Bioregionalism in the Age of Crumbling Empire
It has been clear to me for a couple of decades now that WWIII is the planet vs. humans. Author and Nostradamus scholar John Hogue posited that in his 2000 book The Millennium Book of Prophecy, said...
The Cold Moon (A Greg Bem Production)
Greg Bem has a knack for creating events that while poetry based, transcend literary art. His own performances have always been closer to the "happenings" of performance art and Fluxus. Here is his...
Two Anthologies
I was delighted to participate in the open mic called Poetry Bridge, Wednesday, October 25, 2017, at the C&P Coffeehouse aka: West Seattle's Living Room. Leopoldo Seguel holds court, introduces...
Two Countries (Interview with Tina Schumann)
Two-Countries: US Daughters & Sons of Immigrant Parents is an anthology of flash memoir, personal essays, and poetry edited by Tina Schumann. The daughter of a Salvadoran immigrant has gathered...
January Workshop Registration Open
A five week workshop which now has most of the same participants going into year three is over. I received a wonderful testimonial from Ann Graham Walker: I think you can take a lot of credit for...
Nina Menkes Producer of Brainwashed: Sex Camera Power
Thanks to a member of my Subud spiritual community, I was alerted to a new documentary about gender relations in Hollywood and a thesis by a director that says the "visual rhetoric" of camera angles...
Poetics as Cosmology Workshops in Des Moines
I am grateful to 4Culture and the Des Moines Arts Commission for the support of three free workshops next month. Poetics as Cosmology is the title of a workshop I have been facilitating online for...
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.