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
Joe Friday’s Harbor
Here's the latest Pig War poem.
Lightning Round (Short Poem Fiesta)
I am not sure when we started it, or how it started, but a tradition from the old SPLAB during the first few iterations of the Ginsberg Marathon featured a Lightning Round. We'd gather in a circle...
Notes on Anuncio’s Last Love Song (Nate Mackey)
Notes on Anuncio’s Last Love Song by Nate Mackey When we last left Nate Mackey’s poetry with the book Nod House, our protagonist and his band were seeing brute sun outside the/ nod / house door....
86. Paulownia Tomentosa
I have heard much over the years about Jack Remick's writing group. That he's the feature of our 13th Ginsberg Marathon made me want to see how he works. A very informal gathering at 2P Tuesdays and...
Kwame Dawes, Youth Speaks Seattle
Last night (Friday, May 3, 2013) I attended the Kwame Dawes reading at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. I was invited twice to the event, the second invite coming a few days before and though I was not...
Latest American Sentences
I was looking at the stats for this website yesterday and stunned to find over 5,000 hits on American Sentences, by far the most popular thing here. Thank you for your interest. I write today to...
85. Soul’s Same Ol’ (Over n Over)
It doesn't take much exposure to the work of Nate Mackey to propel me into my own poetic orbit. Perhaps as a gesture for the successful publication of an interview we did last summer, he sent a copy...
Hold The House Sparrow (translation)
The haibun I wrote for Maleea Acker (84. Hold The House Sparrow) has been translated into Chinese. I got this yesterday from Denis Mair: Hello Paul, Zhang Yuan, who is studying for a PhD in...
David Abel Tether, Float, Spare Room, 13 Hats
For years I was on the email list of Portland poet David Abel. The range of events promoted on that list went from experimental poetry readings to workshops, rare book exhibits to raga singing...
Chang’an Poetry Festival Hall of Fame
My 2011 trip to China continues to pay dividends. I'll explain in a moment. I was invited to China for the 2011 Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival and traveled there with my wife Meredith...
Red Pine (Bill Porter) Interview
I had the good fortune to visit Bill Porter, the translator of ancient Chinese poetry and sacred texts, and interview him at his Port Townsend home on August 28, 2019. His latest books at the time...
Notes on The Undercommons
Nate Mackey tipped me off a few years ago to the work of Fred Moten and few months ago I came across a New Yorker article about a book Moten co-wrote with Stefano Harney entitled: The Undercommons:...
Write On Door County Sept 2019 Residency
I'm near the end of my week-long writing residency at Write On Door County. Postcard poet Sharon Auberle tipped me off to this writing center in the part of Wisconsin that sticks into Lake Michigan....
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.