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
Audio from King’s Books 3.13.15
I am grateful to Connie Walle for inviting me to be a featured reader at the Distinguished Writer's Series in Tacoma. I did it last Friday, March 13, 2015 and was delighted to see many long-time...
After The Japanese 45-48
The latest in this series of poems written in 2014 and archived here cover ground from Lorine Niedecker, to Michael McClure, to Amalio Madueño (Garcia), to Vincent Van Gogh and were also written in...
Margin Shift Reading Series
It has been described by one Seattle writer as a reading series that leans toward: "the academic, conceptual and slightly Canadian." It is Margin Shift, a new poetry reading series run by a...
Hillman City Haibun 9 Anagrams
It was probably in 1995 or '96 that Danika Dinsmore made me aware of a form of poetry called Present Beau, a kind of poem that employs the restraint of using only the letters in someone's name in...
After the Japanese 41-44
This series of poems, posted four at a time and archived here, continues with some written on a short retreat in Marblemount, WA, near North Cascades National Park. They are all written in response...
Robin Blaser’s Last Interview
I was searching for my interview with Robin Blaser online and it appears the link that was the best, from Lou Rowan's Golden Handcuffs Review, is down and I'm going to rectify that here. Actually...
Gig Alert! Seattle Center, Rainier Valley, Tacoma
Gigs Ahoy! I'll be participating in several readings over the next few weeks. I'll have manuscript versions of Pig War & Other Songs of Cascadia and other merch. Saturday, March 7th, 2-6P at the...
Hillman City Haibun 8 (Resistance is Futile)
The photo did not crash the internet, but got my friends talking, or expressing concern from Seattle to Cuba to Moscow to Morocco and beyond I am sure. As reported in an earlier haibun, I am...
Albulhassan, Clark, Greco, Triese Chapbooks
I am so envious of these four chapbooks and delighted they were gifts recently given to me. All from Cascadians and all quite worth while. Wikipedia (by way of the O.E.D.) says: "Chapbook is first...
Cascadian Spirituality
I should not have been so naïve to think a post that referenced religion would have gone by without someone reacting as if I'd just stabbed a pig. But add Facebook and the culture of narcissism and...
Zoomuse Reading (The Recording)
My huge appreciation goes out to Andrew Hall, SICA-International, my Subud Sisters and Brothers and a few fans who came to my March 5, 2021 Zoomuse reading. I have found that I feel more at ease...
McClure Tribute
I am delighted to be part of a Michael McClure Memorial Tribute being produced by City Lights Books on the occasion of Michael's last book of poems Mule Kick Blues. Details: On the one-year...
Zoomuse Reading, Friday, March 5, 2021
Check out this interview about my work, conducted by Andrew Hall, as a poet from the perspective of my spiritual community, Subud: From Andrew Hall: At the March 5 Zoomuse event, Paul will be...
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.