Governance Committee Meeting
2026-02-03 08:00 - 09:00, 2026-03-03 08:00 - 09:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online (Zoom)
Governance committee meetings, every first Tuesday of the month
Learn more about the CPL governance committee HERE.

The Poetics of Cascadian Land and Water
2026-02-07 15:00 - 17:00 | Online (Zoom)
The Poetics of Cascadian Land and Water with Harold Rhenisch
Saturdays 3-5 PM PST
ONLINE
January 10, 17, 24, 31 & Feb. 7
$125
REGISTER HERE
This is a workshop in poetic fusion. Cascadia began with a language that united cultures: Chinook Wawa. This series of workshops expands its gift of integration between the ancient languages of the Columbia and its new languages, French and English. To do so, it draws in American, Canadian, Wawa and North European poetries, with a concentration on opening doorways. The first workshop explores Chinook Wawa to place traditions of language and poetry within Cascadian place, opening doors for Wawa to lead us closer to land and water. The second workshop explores the Old Norse language of land and sea that Cascadia’s first Europeans, northmen from the Scottish islands, brought to the Columbia. It is a workshop in English as an Indigenous language, opening doors for one-on-one conversations with other languages of the land. The third workshop explores the contributions of various French dialects and cultures, which arrived simultaneously from Quebec, le-Pays-d’en-Haut and Louisiana. It is a workshop in the breadth of language as civic discourse. It mines American (think: Ezra Pound and Denise Levertov) and British Columbian (think: Charles Lillard and Daphne Marlatt) models for techniques of integration across dictions, allowing history to be written on Cascadian terms. The fourth workshop explores the transcripts of the Walla Walla Treaty Council of 1855. This all-important council was conducted in Wawa and recorded in English. The workshop explores the differences between American and Indigenous uses of Wawa at the council and then applies them to expansions of current poetic models in what has long been a land of translation. Black history at Hanford is part of this story. The fifth workshop references integrative traditions from British Columbia which fuse British and American poetic traditions. It explores line breaks in detail and how they guide bodies moving in space. Our goal overall is to speak as Cascadians, from here and from our rich linguistic tradition, emphasizing voice, person to person, people to land, and the past to an integrative future.

Weekly Staff Meetings
2026-02-09 10:00 - 11:30 | Online (Zoom)
Weekly staff meetings for CPL staff with founding director Paul E. Nelson. Every Monday at 10 AM Pacific Time.
February 9, 2026
10 A.M. to 11:30 P.M. PST
Online

CPL Board Meetings
2026-02-10 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-03-10 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Online (Zoom)
Cascadia Poetics Lab monthly board meetings
Every second Tuesday of the month at 6 PM
More info on CPL’s board available HERE

The Ceremony at Grand Central Bakery
2026-02-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Grand Central Bakery Burien, 626 SW 152nd St, Burien, WA, 98166, United States
Art show reception featuring paintings by Helena Rogers and music by Frontera Dogs, a band consisting of Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs and her husband Eric Muhs.
February 15
2-4 PM PST
Grand Central Bakery Burien

Thinkingwith 2026
2026-02-15 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-15 15:00 - 17:00 | Online (Zoom)
thinkingwith: writing strategies for reconnecting to earth with Matt Trease
This lab will focus on writing strategies, applicable for poetry or prose, for breaking the spell that objectifies and cuts us off from the earth and from place and all the living beings that we (often) obliviously live in relationship with. We’ll do that by intentionally widening the socially-imposed conventions of “normal” perception via some minor alterations to our daily writing practices.
Sundays 3-5 PM PST
February 15 & 22, March 1, 8, 15
$125
REGISTER HERE

Weekly Staff Meetings
2026-02-16 10:00 - 11:30 | Online (Zoom)
Weekly staff meetings for CPL staff with founding director Paul E. Nelson. Every Monday at 10 AM Pacific Time.
February 16, 2026
10 A.M. to 11:30 P.M. PST
Online

Understanding Authoritarianism
2026-02-19 12:30 - 13:30 | Seattle University, 824 12th Ave, Seattle, WA, 98122, United States
UNDERSTANDING AUTHORITARIANISM – PLAYS, PUPPETS, POETRY: ARTISTS RESPOND TO AUTHORITARIANISM
Seattle University staff, including CPL board member Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, will be discussing plays, puppets, and poetry as modes of resistance to authoritarianism. The panel will close with a discussion between the panelists and audience about the power of the arts to create meaning in oppressive times.
ADAL 116
Thursday, Feb. 19, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Thinkingwith 2026
2026-02-22 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-01 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Online (Zoom)
thinkingwith: writing strategies for reconnecting to earth with Matt Trease
This lab will focus on writing strategies, applicable for poetry or prose, for breaking the spell that objectifies and cuts us off from the earth and from place and all the living beings that we (often) obliviously live in relationship with. We’ll do that by intentionally widening the socially-imposed conventions of “normal” perception via some minor alterations to our daily writing practices.
Sundays 3-5 PM PST
ONLINE
February 15 & 22, March 1, 8, 15
$125
REGISTER HERE

Weekly Staff Meetings
2026-02-23 10:00 - 11:30 | Online (Zoom)
Weekly staff meetings for CPL staff with founding director Paul E. Nelson. Every Monday at 10 AM Pacific Time.
February 23, 2026
10 A.M. to 11:30 P.M. PST
Online

Finance Committee Meeting
2026-03-07 09:00 - 10:00, 2026-04-04 09:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
Meeting with the Cascadia Poetics Lab Finance Committee, every first Saturday of the month.
Learn more about the CPL Finance Committee HERE

Fundraising Committee Meeting
2026-03-14 09:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
Meeting with the Cascadia Poetics Lab Fundraising Committee, every second Saturday of the month.
Learn more about the CPL Fundraising Committee HERE

Chinook Beach Park Postcard Workshop
2026-03-21 11:00 - 13:00 | Chinook Beach Park, 9560 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
Poetry workshop in collaboration with Rainier Beach Action Coalition.
March 21, 202611a-1P

Poetics as Cosmology
2026-03-26 15:00 - 17:00 | Paul’s Zoom, WA, 98118, United States
Online workshop on Innovative Cascadia Poetry facilitated by Paul E Nelson.
$125REGISTER HERE

Life as Rehearsal for the Poem
2026-03-29 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-05 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-12 15:00 - 17:00 | Online (Zoom)
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem workshop on the history of innovative Cascadian Poetry, from Theodore Roethke to Cedar Sigo. Online, facilitated by Paul E Nelson.
Sundays 3-5 PM PDT
March 29, April 5, 12, 19 & 26.
$125
REGISTER HERE

yəhaw̓ Postcard Activation Event
2026-04-01 18:00 - 20:00 | yəhaw̓, 9674 51st Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
Poetry postcard workshop in cooperation with yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective. Join us to make poetry postcard collages and write postcard poetry.
April 1, 2026
Time: 6p-8p
Place: 9674 51st Ave S, Seattle
Cost: FREE

Poetics as Cosmology
2026-04-02 15:00 - 17:00 | Paul’s Zoom, WA, 98118, United States
Poetics as Cosmology Workshop on the history of Innovative Cascadia Poetry, from Theodore Roethke to Cedar Sigo. Online, facilitated by Paul E Nelson
$125REGISTER HERE

Poetics As Cosmology
2026-04-09 15:00 - 17:00 | Paul E Nelson Zoom Room, Cyberspace, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States

Fundraising Committee Meeting
2026-04-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Online (Zoom)
Meeting with the Cascadia Poetics Lab Finance Committee, every second Saturday of the month.
Learn more about the CPL Fundraising Committee HERE

Rainier Beach Arts Roundtable
2026-04-17 18:00 - 19:30 | RBAC, 9049 MLK Jr. Way S., Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
In partnership with the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, the Cascadia Poetics Lab is initiating a neighborhood arts roundtable to increase the visibility of arts & culture in Rainier Beach, to allow creatives to network, to make Rainier Beach a destination for arts & culture and to support working artists in the neighborhood.
We plan monthly meetings, some on Zoom and some in person. The first is coming up Friday, April 17, 2026, from 6 to 7:30pm at the headquarters of the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, 9049 MLK Jr. Way S. There will be some snacks, and soft drinks, but feel free to bring something to share. Our guest speaker on April 17 will be Cheryl Delostrinos, Community Relations Manager with the City of Seattle with the Office of the Mayor.
RBAC has created two neighborhood roundtables, one focused on Economic Development and one onTransportation.

Kubota Garden Postcard Workshop
2026-04-18 11:00 - 14:00 | Kubota Garden, 9817 55th Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98118, United States
Poetry postcard workshop in cooperation with Rainier Beach Action Coalition and Kubota Garden Foundation. Join us to make poetry postcard collages, construct a Personal Universe Deck for the garden, write some postcard poetry and be in the natural splendor of Kubota Garden. A guided tour will be the first part of this event. FREE
April 18, 2026Time: 11a-2pPlace: Kubota Garden, 9817 55th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118Cost: FREE
