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
Free Cup of Coffee
Did you know March 21 is World Poetry Day? Yeah, UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations decided that in 1999. Julius Meinl, a European coffee-roasting company upped the ante a few years ago...
RIP Darius Brusaferro
I was fortunate enough to meet Darius Brusaferro, a long-time Subud member, at one of the first Subud Menucha gatherings I attended, perhaps 2009 or 2010. I learned today on Facebook that he died in...
Resist Much/Obey Little
I am thinking of it as the most important anthology of political poetry since Sam Hamill's "Poets Against The War." "Resist Much Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance" is a 738 page virtual...
Once in Blockadia: Stephen Collis Interview
On my way north to the Comox Valley to assist organizers of the Cascadia Poetry Festival to be held in Cumberland, September 8-10, 2017, I stopped in Delta, BC, to interview Stephen Collis about his...
A Few Postcard Notes
I'm just about finished with the 2017 Peace Postcards project. There are 28 poets on my list and without sending a card to myself, that means I had 27 poems to write and will probably get the last...
The Road Diet Starts at My House
(Huge thanks to Marcus Green for publishing my essay on the success of the Rainier Avenue South Road Diet. Click on photo to see it on the South Seattle Emerald website along with some other...
James Baldwin Is Not…
Last Friday I saw, for the second time, the Raoul Peck masterpiece "I Am Not Your Negro." A very astute New York Times review by A.O. Scott suggests that the film utilizing the words of James...
#Ides of Trump (A Postcard Project)
Here's one of those Facebook memes that when I first saw it I thought "I'll pay attention if it comes around again." Then August Poetry Postcarder Alley Greymond re-posted it, so I shared it and am...
2.8.17 – American Sentence
2.8.17 - Spiders can’t get outta sinks, palmetto bugs can’t get outta bathtubs. #AmericanSentences #LakeWorthWhereTheTropicsBegin #SorryNoPhoto
Visiting Jaco’s Grave
It is hard to believe that it's been almost twenty years since the legendary bassist for Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, died due to complications from a beating he took from a bouncer at a South...
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...
9.28.2022 @ Underbelly
Once I survived the promotional photo shoot for the Underbelly reading, I was ready for the event. I'll be part of a reading in Pioneer Square with: underbelly every last Wednesday ...
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.