CPF9 Highlights!

We had an amazing time at the 9th Cascadia Poetry Festival, Oct. 10-12, 2025! It was amazing to see so many new and familiar faces join our community for a weekend of poetry, education and place. Thank you deeply to every presenter that traveled to our beloved city to be a part of our humble gathering, to every reader that shared their work, to every participant that supported our organization and mission and to every volunteer that dedicated their time to the festival. Thank you to the Rainier Beach Community Club, Jude’s and Kubota Garden for giving us welcoming spaces to host our festival. Thank you to Savannah Bulloch for capturing photos and videos and to Zach Charles for capturing audio. All photos below are by Savannah Bulloch. Here are some highlights of the festival!

Day 1

On Friday October 10, we opened with concurrent morning workshops hosted at the Rainier Beach Community Club and Dead Horse Canyon. Following this, we kicked off the festival with a keynote reading featuring Brenda Hillman, Roberto Harrison, Sharon Thesen and Robert Lashley.

Sharon Thesen, Keynote Reading CPF9 October 10

Robert Lashley, Keynote Reading CPF9 October 10

Day 2

We started our full day on Saturday, October 11 with a land acknowledgement by Ken Workman of the Duwamish Tribe. Workman spoke on the relationship between his people and the land and thanked the land that both fostered our festival and supports us every second of every day. 

Ken Workman, CPF9. October 11.

We followed with a panel featuring Lorin Medley, Roberto Harrison, Alicia Hokanson, Brandon Letsinger and Robert Michael Pyle, with Jason Wirth as the moderator. The panel explored practices of connecting to place and how these deepened connections can influence connections to self and to writing practices.

Lorin Medley, Roberto Harrison and Alicia Hokanson. CPF9 October 11.

Robert Michael Pyle, CPF9. October 11.

The second panel featured Roxi Power, Katie Sarah Zale, Brenda Cardenas and Brenda Hillman discussing the ways in which poetry and art can be used as a tool of political and social resistance and sharing their experiences as activists, organizers and poets.

Roxi Power, Brenda Cardenas, Brenda Hillman. CPF9. October 11.

After lunch, we regathered for the Carbonation Press showcase, celebrating the incredible work of Spokane-based publisher Greg Bem and the talented poets whose work has been published by Carbonation Press. The showcase featured Greg Bem, Theresa Whitehill, Rhea Melina, Zach Charles, Matt Trease and Paul Nelson. Carbonation Press proof reader and copy editor Josh Massey also shared his experience working with the press.

Josh Massey, CPF9. October 11.

Theresa Whitehill, CPF9. October 11.

Following the showcase was an intimate afternoon reading featuring Jim Dott, Lorin Medley, Katie Sarah Zale and Brenda Cardenas, with Matt Trease as emcee.

Jim Dott, CPF9. October 11.

We closed our full day of festivities with the Cascadia Mono Poem, curated and emceed by Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs. The mono poem featured poets reading 1-2 poems back to back with no introductions. Students from Seattle University shared their work for this reading, along with local poets and featured festival presenters. It was a beautiful night of poetic perspectives sharing their voices seamlessly.

Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, CPF9. October 11.

Day 3

We opened our final day with a magnificent autumn stroll through Kubota Garden, followed by a reading under the terrace featuring Roxi Power, Robert Michael Pyle and Alicia Hokanson.

Participants gathered at Kubota Garden. CPF9, October 12.

Roxi Power. CPF9, October 12.

To close out our festival, the lovely staff at Jude’s opened their doors for us to host a reading for Winter in America (Again. Publisher Greg Bem and editors Katie Sarah Zale, Roxi Power and Paul Nelson spoke on the process of curating and publishing the anthology. Zach Charles, Brenda Hillman, Jim Dott and Matt Trease read their work featured in the anthology.

Paul Nelson and Katie Sarah Zale. CPF9, October 12.

Matt Trease. CPF9, October 12.

Thank you so much again to everyone that joined us for this festival! We were so grateful to be able to celebrate and explore poetry and place in the Rainier Beach neighborhood this year, and we are anxiously looking forward to next year. Recordings of the festival will be posted on our blog and YouTube periodically.

Information on the 10th Cascadia Poetry Festival will be available soon, so keep an eye out!