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PAUL E NELSON

The Sacramental Aspect of Habitation

“And that is what a poet Is, children, one who creates Sacramental relationships That last always.” – Kenneth Rexroth Aside from the signature, this is how Rexroth ended his epistle “Letter to William Carlos Williams.” And while this statement seems to me to...

Postcards From the Wilderness

I got back yesterday from a short (annual) backpacking trip to the Olympic National Wilderness. I have tried each year to recreate a 1995 experience of visiting the Olympic Mountains, specifically the Boulder Creek watershed and Appleton Pass. This year, like the last...

Loose in Cascadia

I have left a couple of browser tabs open on my mac for a couple of weeks now because of their relevance to my ongoing cultural investigation of Cascadia. Both have to do with a study by two psychology professors at the University of Maryland which used a bevy of...

What Drives Cascadia Culture?

Part of the reason we chose the headliners we did for the 2nd Cascadia Poetry Festival is because my short investigation of innovative Cascadia Poetry has led me to a couple of early conclusions: 1) Robert Duncan and Jack Spicer’s poetics (along with the Black...

Seattle Nice and Cascadia Culture

With the AWP Conference just concluded in Seattle, I had many opportunities to see my home through the eyes of others, be a guide to the best of what’s here, the cultural mores and to even feel defensive about those who would have a jab or two at this, my city....