On February 21, 2025, Zach Charles and I (Veronica Martinez) visited Seattle University to talk about Cascadia 2050, CPL’s youth initiative, to one of Professor Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs’ poetry courses. The class had about 20 undergraduates attending. We talked to the class about our experiences navigating the post-college workforce while being writers and artists and the common difficulty of maintaining a poetic practice after college. We emphasized the importance of being surrounded by creative community in order to continue creating outside of school. Zach also gave the class a rundown on bioregionalism and how maintaining an intentional poetic and creative practice can bring us closer to our surrounding ecosystems and the communities that inhabit Cascadia. With all of this in mind, we told the group about Cascadia 2050, which is developing programming and events for poets and creatives under 40 in Cascadia to build community with other Cascadians and share their poetic and artistic work.

We closed out the presentation by answering class questions, reading some of our own writing and promoting our individual projects, including Zach’s work with Breathe Magazine and my work with Disposable Parts. Thank you so much to Gabriella and her class for welcoming us and giving us space to spread the word of Cascadia 2050!

Cascadia 2050 is still looking for new volunteers to join us in our efforts. Please tell your loved ones about this opportunity or CLICK HERE to get involved!