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
August POetry POstcard Fest Year 11 Official Call
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2017 marks the eleventh year of the fest and this is your official call. Directions to participate in the...
The Hanners: Husband & Wife Postcarders
It's almost 4th of July which means August is coming. August for me has become synonymous with the heart of summer because of my poetry postcard habit. This year is the 11th year of the August...
5th Cascadia Poetry Fest – Tacoma Oct 12-15
A few months ago I changed the header of this here website once again and added the phrase "Twenty Year Cascadia Bioregional Cultural Investigation." I've blogged about it a few times...
Charles Potts Interview
John Oliver Simon, former director of California Poets in the Schools and recipient of an NEA grant for translation, called Charles Potts “…the greatest poet born in Idaho since Ezra Pound…and one...
Profile of an Anarcho-Leftist, Poet/Librarian, Gentrifier, Greg Bem
When you think of the kind of person gentrifying the Rainier Valley, a man who could be described as an Anarcho-Leftist, Poet/Librarian might not be tops on your list. Greg Bem is a Rainier Valley...
2017 August POetry POstcard Fest is Coming
The call for the eleventh year of the August Poetry Postcard Fest goes out July 4, 2017, and registration opens then. Like last year, as soon as 32 participating poets get signed up, the list will...
Poetry Wars Revived
Most of the LANGPO vs. Black Mountain poetry war was fought before I was invested in poetry, so I have done my best to catch up, but a recrudescence has emerged thanks to Dispatches, a website...
Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation
oIs it Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Appreciation? Can you tell the difference? Is close reading dead? The issue of cultural appropriation has flared up in the last ten days or so thanks to The...
Neukom Vivarium Variations
It is part public art sculpture, part environmental education project. Unlike any other art project one can imagine, the Neukom Vivarium in Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park is a nurse log...
Evan Flory-Barnes Interview
On Tuesday, April 25, 2017, I sat down with bassist, composer and Seattle native Evan Flory-Barnes in my apartment in the Angeline to discuss his work, his vision for Seattle's arts community and...
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,...
In Person and Online Workshops
It has become part of an annual rhythm thanks to the pandemic and the emergence of Zoom. Coming after the Poetry Postcard Fest is the workshop season. For two years it has only been online. While...
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.