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
SW Road Trip Haibun: Holiday in Quemado
The road has its own demands. Make plans, the road reserves the right to laugh. Hail. Close. Be patrolled with USAmerican religious trooper zeal and yet you go 80+ under sun & big sky. You can't...
Bringhurst on Cascadia
I've re-watched the video of the panel on which Robert Bringhurst participated at the recent Cascadia Poetry Festival. This was the third iteration of the fest and was staged in Nanaimo, BC, April...
After The Japanese 69-72
The poems after more than a year now, seem so out of place when viewed from this "heat wave" point of view. (84 now as I write, which is over 78, the temp at which Seattleites tend to gripe.) And...
Joanne Kyger Reads Easter & Other Poems
Joanne Kyger Interview in Bolinas, CA, Memorial Day, 2015 One of the major women poets of the SF Renaissance, Joanne Kyger was born in 1934 in Vallejo, CA, studied with Pound scholar Hugh Kenner at...
Amalio Madueño in Taos
The purpose of my recent (massive) road trip to the SW and back was to visit Amalio Madueño, who has lived there since the early 90s. I met him in the late 90s when I attended three consecutive...
Duwamish Revealed
Ever since Greg Bem arrived in Seattle from Philadelphia he has been a literary dynamo, presenting and participating in events that are rich in imagination, well-conceived and have added depth to...
Cascadia to Taos
OK, I'm back. It was 4,167 miles in Que (my Honda) to Portland, Boise (via John Day River watershed in Oregon), to Moab, Grand Junction, CO, Denver, Taos, Quemado, NM, Phelan, CA, Lancaster, CA,...
Make It True Readings (dan raphael interview)
The effort to get the word out about Make It True: Poetry from Cascadia begins in Portland, with a reading organized by longtime Portland poet dan raphael, who wrote: A reading to celebrate the...
ATJ 65-68
I love this notion of pre-bedtime suggestions. I have been doing that the last few months, or more based on the latest poems to be posted here from the ongoing series After The Japanese. I have...
50 Days til Postcards
I am starting to get emails about the August Poetry Postcard Fest. Questions like: 1) Is the fest on this year? (Yes). 2) Can you sign me up now? (No). 3) What are the main changes this year? (This...
McClure’s Last Book Mule Kick Blues
Michael McClure died one year ago, May 4, 2020 and the last book he wrote will be launched by legendary publisher City Lights May 8, 2021, via Zoom, 3pm. A memorial tribute to Michael with readings...
Armenian Genocide
I was delighted to hear that President Biden announced that for the first time in history the United States recognizes the Armenian genocide perpetrated by Turkey in 1915. See:...
The Wig Maker
How the life story of a woman abandoned by her mother and abused as a child by her father was turned into experimental lyric poetry is the premise of a book by Janet Gallant as told to Sharon Thesen...
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.