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
The Owner of the Red Wheelbarrow
Being a William Carlos Williams fan, this story was a natural for me. A scholar by the name of William Logan, a professor at the University of Florida, (with help from a local historian) did the...
The Joy of Postcards
I'm back in that mode again, a time of year when poetry gets right to the front of my daily consciousness. Some who know me would argue that it is that way anyway, but during the annual August...
After the Japanese 77-79
In this part of the series I started doing alternate takes. Not unlike bebop, writing in serial form is kind of like that stabbing at something you can't quite nail, but hopefully the striving is...
Postcard Update, Independence
First an update on the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest. We have 70 signups in the first 44 hours and the first two groups are complete. Lists have been sent out to groups 1 & 2. Participants in the...
August POetry POstcard Fest (Year 9) Call
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2015 marks year nine and this is your official call. Directions to participate in the fest are linked...
Cascadia Anthology Audio
A reading from the first ever anthology of Cascadia Poetry was held Wednesday, June 24, 2015, at Milepost 5 in Portland. Details and audio here:...
BC Poet Jamie Reid Dead at 74
Waiting in the garden on a hot day for a friend and our bike ride, I perused Facebook only to see the news that Vancouver poet Jamie Reid had died at age 74. The news came via his wife Carol on his...
Interview with Eric Tingstad
For over 30 years Seattle guitarist Eric Tingstad has been recording and performing in Cascadia and around the world. Often with his collaborator Nancy Rumbel, with whom he was awarded a Grammy in...
After The Japanese 73-76
The latest in this series of 100 poems with references to: https://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/gardens/wpa/witt_winter.shtml https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370...
Sharon Thesen on Re-Wilding (Re-Worlding)
In the year 2001, after the tragic events of that September, and only about five years under my belt as a curator/facilitator of events featuring visiting poets, I had the good fortune to organize a...
Larissa Lai Iron Goddess Interview
I was pretty stunned when Larissa Lai was the feature at Planet Earth Poetry in Victoria, BC, a few months ago. Her use of Haibun is a very dense, playful and rich language gesture, but the...
Gigs, Interviews & Postcards
So much happening. The new abnormal is near! Anarchist librarian poet Greg Bem has organized yet another of his creative, interdisciplinary events and this one is IN PUBLIC! He is apparently not...
Jeanne Heuving on Nate Mackey Destination Out
Jeanne Heuving is the editor of a fascinating new book of scholarship on one of the most important poets of our time, Nate Mackey. The book is entitled Nathaniel Mackey, Destination Out: Essays on...
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.