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
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...
Death Rattle, Postcard Panel, IndieGoGo Request
Some events of note for those interested in my work: Monday, October 2, 2017, I have been invited to read for the Striped Water Poets in Auburn, Washington at the Rainbow Cafe, 7pm, 112 E. Main...
Cascadia in Cumberland
A comprehensive review of what I experienced in Cumberland, BC, at the first Cascadia Poetry Festival requires more bandwidth than I have right now, but a few thoughts. I as delighted to have Jared...
Postcards Never End
Although the August Poetry Postcard Fest is over (it IS September after all) cards I sent out on the 31st have probably not arrived at their final destination and the APPF Facebook group is still...
CPF-Cumberland
Cascadia Poetry Festival in Cumberland
In August 2014, I attended the Subud World Congress in Puebla, Mexico. It was my first World Congress and it was life-changing. While there I was urged to get involved in the Subud International...
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...
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...
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.