Jan 2, 2026 Interview with Cornelius Eady on Proof
You’d expect poetry to be part of an event inaugurating such a figure and that the poem offered for the occasion would be bland, written by a committee, or full of platitudes, but the poem delivered yesterday matched perfectly the tone of a campaign that appears to be built on mutual respect, vision, human rights and empathy.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:22 — 50.0MB)
Trevor Carolan on Making Waves: Reading BC and PNW Literature
If artists are the antennae of the race, then the poets and writers of British Columbia are onto something that the general populace may be ready to recognize and act on. That is the West Coast of the U.S. and that of Canada has more in common with each other than with the power centers back east, Ottawa and Washington, DC, New York City and Toronto. But some go a step further in recognizing a new culture emanating from what some call Cascadia.
Trevor Carolan is one of them and if you believe the culture and literature of a nation is a critical component of any nation’s foundation, a new book he has edited begins to tell that story. Making Waves: Reading BC and Pacific Northwest Literature is that book and Trevor’s our guest. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of Fraser Valley and had published 14 books of poetry, translation, non-fiction, fiction and anthologies.
Check out more of what the Lab does at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/, and listen to more current and archival podcasts at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/cascadian-prophets-podcast-2/.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:50 — 39.6MB)
Gary Copeland Lilley on Raven on the Moaners’ Bench
“The first pew in the old time Black church is the Moaners’ bench.” – Gary Copeland Lilley
Artificial intelligence and it’s racist assumptions suggests “mourners’ bench” as a clarification, but the moaners’ bench refers to the audible expression of those in spiritual need due to grief, the blues, or simply the harshness of our time.
Raven On The Moaners’ Bench is the title of the latest collection of poetry from Gary Copeland Lilley. Originally from North Carolina, now living in Cascadia, Gary has published nine books of poetry, has work in several anthologies, is a graduate of the Warren Wilson College Creative Writing MFA program, is a Cave Canem Fellow and serves as Artistic Director of the Port Townsend Writers Conference.
Check out more of what the Lab does at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/, and listen to more current and archival podcasts at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/cascadian-prophets-podcast-2/.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:17 — 78.7MB)
Tess Gallagher on Surrounded by Weasels and Josie Gray
To preserve a bit of one’s art is a true act of love, even if the book of stories it comes out of is titled Surrounded by Weasels: Stories from the Northwest of Ireland. The late Josie Gray is the story teller, and his widow Tess Gallagher, the world renowned poet, is the editor…
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:20 — 95.2MB)
In Memory of Jack Foley
This interview is brought to you in memory of Jack Foley, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 85. The interview is with Jack and his wife Adelle, who were poets from Oakland, California.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:43 — 60.1MB)
Vodou Visions with Sallie Ann Glassman
In this interview on her book Vodou Visions with Sallie Ann Glassman, she discusses becoming a Manbo, or Vodou Priestess, Vodou, its history as a religion created by enslaved Africans, common misunderstandings about it…
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:41 — 60.0MB)
Linda Russo on the verdant
Linda Russo is a poet, scholar, essay writer, willing co-creator, collaborator and student of ecospheric care. Through the lens of ecofeminism, or geopoetics, or inspired by indigenous practices of interspecies kinship, her works explore relationality, with a more than human world alongside the complexities presented by fragmentation of land and human attention to place.
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A Salish Perspective on Wellness with Beaver Chief
Hear a Salish perspective on wellness with Beaver Chief. Fred Beaver Chief Jamison was a spiritual leader who brought out the traditional teachings of the Northwest Coast (Native American) Salish people. He discussed his heritage, the songs and stories that are part of the Shaker Indian Doctor tradition, his collection of medicine songs on a C.D., and some of the differences between his culture and “settler” culture, such as concepts of land ownership.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:10 — 60.7MB)
Stephan Torre in Atlin, B.C.
What a great way to entice someone to read a book: “Like a prize-fighter boxing over his weight, Stephan Torre has long made his home in the wilderness, negotiating environments that are hostile…
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download ()
Jan 2, 2026 Interview with Cornelius Eady on Proof
On January 1, 2026, a 34-year-old, immigrant, Muslim, democratic socialist mayor was sworn in to...
Trevor Carolan on Making Waves: Reading BC and PNW Literature
In this edition of Cascadian Prophets, Trevor Carolan talks about Making Waves. If artists are the...
Gary Copeland Lilley on Raven on the Moaners’ Bench
"The first pew in the old time Black church is the Moaners' bench." - Gary Copeland Lilley...
Cascadian Prophets: Interviews 1999-2023
is the second collection of transcribed interviews taken from the 30 year history of the Cascadia Poetics Lab and conducted by Paul E Nelson, CPL Founder. Interviewees include 7 USAmericans and 7 Canadians, 7 women and 7 men and 7 people who have died and 7 that at the time of publication (February 2, 2024) are still alive. Interviewees:
Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs – Mary Norbert Körte – Robert Bringhurst – Barry McKinnon – Colleen J. McElroy – Brenda Hillman – Daphne Marlatt – Diane di Prima – Miriam Nichols – Stephen Collis- Charles Potts – Robin Blaser – Peter Culley – Sam Hamill
The book is $30 plus shipping and is available online here.
Cascadian Prophets: Interviews 1999-2023
is the second collection of transcribed interviews taken from the 30 year history of the Cascadia Poetics Lab and conducted by Paul E Nelson, CPL Founder. Interviewees include 7 USAmericans and 7 Canadians, 7 women and 7 men and 7 people who have died and 7 that at the time of publication (February 2, 2024) are still alive. Interviewees:
Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs – Mary Norbert Körte – Robert Bringhurst – Barry McKinnon – Colleen J. McElroy – Brenda Hillman – Daphne Marlatt – Diane di Prima – Miriam Nichols – Stephen Collis- Charles Potts – Robin Blaser – Peter Culley – Sam Hamill
The book is $30 plus shipping and is available online here.
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Harry and Cleo Davenport Elser, wedding photo
Diana Elser
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Glen and Jessie Dodge
Sally Hedges-Blanquez
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