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
1st Crop of 2013 American Sentences
One function of my practice of writing a daily American Sentence is as a journal. I will go back to these not for the literary merit, but to remind myself of life's little trials and twists. Having...
Pirates of Cascadia
There is something about the San Juan Islands that lets a Midwest boy understand he is in Cascadia. When the view out your hostel window is this: you know you're not in corn country. And of course...
Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo
I got up early today and had some time to think (& write a poem) after doing my morning routine of journaling &c. (Someone in the household had coffee too late the night before and was up...
Soundcloud Interview Clips
How does one communicate the essence of three decades of conducting interviews? I have had to do that, and quick, as a grant deadline is approaching and I save the worst of the grant writing process...
The Next Big Thing (Self-Interview)
I was tagged by C.E. Putnam for this project, the Next Big Thing self-interview. I tagged 6 other writers whose work I admire and will post links to their answers once they send them to me. The...
Ghost Tantras (Ceremonies to Change The Nature of Reality)
It was early in 2012 that I finally acted on my interest in sound poetry. I had heard Dada sound poems, Jerome Rothenberg's recitation of the sound poetry of Hugo Ball, the Canadian group the Four...
Celebrating Ian Boyden (80. Bear Dream Bird Dream)
When Sam Hamill read at Spring Street Center back in November 2012 to celebrate and display his collaborations with the painter, book maker and artist Ian Boyden (see this link) Ian gave me a copy...
More Walking the Arboretum with Jim Demetre
A second and, hopefully, shorter post about my walk with Jim Demetre at Washington Park Arboretum. What a place this is and late winter is one of the most inspiring times to go, giving those who...
Walking the Arboretum in Winter with Jim
Each morning I look over last year's journal entry for the same day and it had been a year since I walked through Washington Park Arboretum with Jim Demetre. Jim's an amateur botanist whom I met...
Shave and a Slight Cut, $10K
So I have to tell the story of finding out about my surgery date for the two, count ‘em, TWO hernias I have being diagnosed with. (A bilateral inguinal hernia and an abdominal hernia.) I got a call...
Interviewed by Ethelbert Miller
I was honored to be the subject of an interview by Ethelbert Miller for his weekly radio program in Washington, D.C., On The Margin. He had asked me for a copy of American Prophets months ago, set...
Subud House/Spring Street Center/Open House
I rarely write about my spiritual community, Subud, because one of Subud's cultural mores is to NOT proselytize and in practice that becomes NEVER TALK ABOUT IT, which would explain why the...
August POetry POstcard Fest 2020 (Official Call) #APPF14
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2020 marks the 14th year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual fundraiser for...
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.