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
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...
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...
The Day Song of Casa del Colibrí: Como Sacramentos
Available from Paul. $10. Add $3 for shipping and handling. 9030 Seward Park Av S #213Seattle, WA 98118 A new chapbook based on a writing exercise developed in the spirit of Bernadette Mayer and...
Open Mic/Workshop
Please join me for a free Poetics as Cosmology workshop/open mic where current and former participants will talk about something they gleaned from Poetics as Cosmology and maybe even read something...
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...
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.