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
Elegy for Brian Love
An elegy for my friend Brian Love, who helped run SPLAB in Auburn 1997-2004, helped me with my syndicated public affairs radio show and was killed by a drunk driver on the morning of July 5, 2013.
Another Postcard Bargain
I'm getting ready for the August Poetry Postcard Fest, which starts on the 27th. It's the 7th year we've done this and after seeing a link to a talk Ted Berrigan gave in 1979 on his Sonnets, I had a...
89. Pocket Fetch
The Tao of Postcards
The absolute tranquility is the present moment. Though it is at this moment, there is no limit to this moment, and herein is eternal delight. – Hui-nen (First published June 24, 2013) In 2000 I was...
August Postcard Poem Fest Returns
From Brendan McBreen: Once more it is almost August! The August Poetry Postcard Project is an exercise in responding to other poets. You write a poem a day for the month of August, write it on a...
88. Lesser Quantico
Am reading The Practice of Outside again, again from the Collected Jack Spicer so I can see what notes I made the first time I read it. (It has since been published in Robin Blaser's Collected...
Organic in Cascadia (translated for Brazilians)
José Kozer has been kind enough to connect me with a Brazilian poet Francisco Dos Santos who is translating and publishing a short essay I wrote for the Convergence on Poetics symposium at UW...
Allen Ginsberg Interview, Parts 9 & 10
In advance of the 12th Ginsberg Poetry Marathon, I'm presenting excerpts from my 1994 interview with Allen. 9. Trungpa on Kerouac PN: Tell us about the . . . Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied...
Allen Ginsberg Interview, Part 8
In advance of the 12th Ginsberg Poetry Marathon, I'm presenting excerpts from my 1994 interview with Allen. 8. 1st Thought, Best Thought AG: Yes, it is the title of a book by Chogyam Trungpa...
Allen Ginsberg Interview, Part 7
In advance of the 12th Ginsberg Poetry Marathon, I'm presenting excerpts from my 1994 interview with Allen. 7. Steal This Poem (poem) You can hear highlighted excerpts from the interview...
No Map, No Jud (For Judith Roche)
My elegy for Judith Roche has been published by the South Seattle Emerald: https://southseattleemerald.com/2019/11/24/sunday-stew-no-map-no-jud-for-judith-roche/ See also:...
Bill Mawhinney Bids Adieu to Northwind
I had the good fortune to read AT LEAST three times during Bill Mawhinney's tenure as producer of the monthly Northwind Poetry series in Port Townsend over the last 13 years. That he came out of the...
Judith Roche, Rest in Power
I was saddened to hear the news via Facebook that Judith Roche died at her home in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood tonight. (Thursday, November 14, 2019). I had a chance to visit her last week and she...
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.