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PAUL E NELSON

Cascadia Poetry Festival 8 Paul E Nelson at the microphone

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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Cascadia Poetry Interview

Crystal Curry is writing a piece on the Cascadia Poetry Festival and had a few questions for me. I thought I'd get the whole thing online here so you can see some of the background of the fest and...

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Hugo House looking for teachers

Email from Brian McGuigan of the Richard Hugo House: Dear Teachers: I’m writing to request proposals for summer quarter classes at Hugo House, running from July 9 through August 19. Click Here...

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puget SOUND POETRY

puget SOUND POETRY Vermillion March 23rd 7-9pm Including: Cristin Miller Molly Mac Fedyk Ezra Mark Crag Hill Nico Vassilakis Joe Milutis Four Hoarse Men: Greg Bem, Jason Conger, Paul Nelson...

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Sam O'Hana April 16, 2025

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.

Sam O’Hana on Opening Poetry to the Working Class

by Paul E Nelson