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
Baptist Critique of Alabama “Christians”
I am not a regular browser of the Baptist News website, but thanks to a mild Twitter habit I cam across an article that makes SO MUCH SENSE to me regarding the death of real Christianity in the U.S....
Anne Tardos Readings in Seattle
Anne Tardos, French-born American poet, is the author of ten books of poetry, and editor of three collections of poetry by Jackson Mac Low. Her work has been translated and published in dozens of...
Gary Snyder, Dōgen, Jason Wirth & Our Ecological Crisis
In August of 2017 I had the good fortune to be invited to a reading to celebrate a new book by Jason Wirth. A professor of Philosophy at Seattle University and Zen Priest, Jason's new book...
Insanely Concentrated Wealth is Strangling Our Prosperity
“Insanely Concentrated Wealth Is Strangling Our Prosperity” is the title of a recent article on a website that proposes to offer ways in which we can, as a country, address what one amateur...
Brenda Hillman Interview (Letters on Fire)
I caught up with Brenda Hillman at her Northern California home August 4, 2017, and we had a lively discussion about her last book: Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire. In the first segment she...
Earshot Jazz Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal
Earshot Jazz is in full swing, no pun intended. Seattle's long-running annual festival is an orgy for the ears and soul and I missed most of the Thelonious Monk @ 100 events, which is a shame, but...
Launch of 56 Days
The anthology 56 Days of August: Poetry Postcards is out in the world and the three co-editors were among the poets reading from the book and discussing their practice of creating, composing and...
Why Cascadia? Why Poetry?
I am re-publishing this on the day of the 5th Cascadia Poetry Festival in Tacoma, WA, at the Washington State History Museum. SCHEDULE REGISTRATION. Why Cascadia? Why Poetry? “Man...
Death Rattle, Day One
This I posted on Facebook, but thought I should post here: The Death Rattle Writer's Festival Day One happened and Janet Holmes had the highlight, for me, a touching poem about grieving the loss of...
Death Rattle, WA 129, Postcards, Cascadia Po Fest
It used to be that the summer in Seattle had very little in the way of literary arts events. When Labor Day weekend came around, poets got caught up at Bumbershoot at the Bookfair and the Sunday...
Interview with Claudia Castro Luna in Poetry NW
I'm delighted to have a version of my June 2022 interview with Claudia Castro Luna published in Poetry NW. Thank you Bill Carty. Here is an excerpt: There’s war raging in Ukraine, a general feeling...
Upcoming Readings and Workshops All Free
MONDAY I'm delighted to be reading for Raul Sanchez Monday night at HeartSpace in Lake City. I've known Raul from the local poetry community going back almost 30 years. (1994, at Auburn's Best Café...
Poetics As Cosmology in West Seattle
Thanks to the support of 4Culture, I am presenting a workshop I have been developing for a few years in West Seattle starting this Friday. 1pm, Oct 7, 21 & 28, 2022. There will be discussion,...
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.