Cascadia Poetry Festival 10
The 10th Cascadia Poetry Festival is set for October 9-11, 2026, at the Rainier Beach Community Club and other local venues. CPF is a gathering of poets and bioregionalists, exploring poetry and its connection to environmental, political, historical, and sociological pursuits within the Cascadia bioregion as defined by David McCloskey. The festival aims to consider how prioritizing natural and cultural boundaries, rather than arbitrary political ones, can address climate change and other issues. Cascadia Poetics LAB Founders Circle Members will be given the first opportunity to purchase an all-access Gold Pass.
This will be the second workshop aiming to demystify the process of writing poetry, and, as the CPL and Cascadia 2050 missions say, “empower people to practice poetry…”
Click this link for more information about the workshop I Want to Write a Poem (But Don’t Know How)
Saturday September 26, 2026, 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
Cost: free, suggested donation $25.
I Want to Write a Poem (But Don’t Know How): A Cascadia 2050 workshop
This will be the second workshop aiming to demystify the process of writing poetry, and, as the CPL and Cascadia 2050 missions say, “empower people to practice poetry…”
Click this link for more information about the workshop I Want to Write a Poem (But Don’t Know How)
Saturday September 26, 2026, 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
Cost: free, suggested donation $25.
A 5-week online poetry workshop designed for folks with any/no level of experience with poetry and with an interest in non-religious spirituality and the occult.
Click this link for more information about the workshop: Poet As Radio: Writing From Intuition
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
October 15 – November 15, 2026
Cost: suggested donation $125.
Poet as Radio: Writing from Intuition
A 5-week online poetry workshop designed for folks with any/no level of experience with poetry and with an interest in non-religious spirituality and the occult.
Click this link for more information about the workshop: Poet As Radio: Writing From Intuition
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
October 15 – November 15, 2026
Cost: suggested donation $125.
Explore practices that help keep consciousness attuned to the realities of the world – and discover how poetry can emerge from that depth. In this five-week workshop, Paul E. Nelson guides participants through readings, interviews, journaling, and writing exercise rooted in the Cascadia bioregion. All levels are welcome; openness and a commitment to the practice are all that’s required.
Learn more about Poetry as Neuro-Resilience →
Suggested donation: $130–$275
Saturday Cohort
Saturdays 3-5 PM Pacific Time
November 21, 2026 – December 19, 2026
Sunday Cohort
Sundays 3-5 PM Pacific Time
November 22, 2026 – December 20, 2026
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
Leggy Brucker- Poems for my mother
Poems for my mother by postcard poet Allegra Brucker Poetry Postcard Festival veteran Allegra Brucker shared this beautiful video Poems for my...
Tessa Hulls Interview Feeding Ghosts
Tessa Hulls and I met when she donated a poster for the 2013 edition of the Allen Ginsberg Open Mic Poetry marathon. On February 20, 2024 I caught...
Support the Cascadian Prophets Podcast!
The Cascadian Prophets Podcast Needs Support! Since 1993, Paul Nelson and Cascadia Poetics Lab have produced over 700 hours of interview programming...
In Praise of Andrew Schelling’s Course on The Cantos
From Adelia MacWilliam, Board Member, Cascadia Poetics Lab: Anyone writing poetry today has been influenced by Ezra Pound’s work whether they have...
Cascadia Poetics Lab Fund Drive
Help Support Cascadia Poetics Lab! Cascadia Poetics Lab is dedicated to following our mission of empowering people to practice poetry and deepen...
Share your favorite Postcard Poems!
Show us your favorite postcard poems! The Poetry Postcard Fest team has established a NEW Instagram account for all things PPF, and we need your...
Register for Spring 2024 Workshops!
Spring 2024 workshop registration is open NOW! Cascadia Poetics Lab founder Paul E. Nelson will be hosting a five week online spring workshop, Life...
Cascadia Poetics Lab 30th Anniversary Celebration!
30 years of Cascadia Poetics Lab! On Friday, February 2, 2024, Cascadia Poetics Lab hosted a celebration for our 30th anniversary as a nonprofit at...
Tell us why you LOVE PPF!
Share your love for PPF! The Poetry Postcard Fest team has established a NEW Instagram account for all things PPF, and we need your help to spread...
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
Jason Wirth CPL Letter of Recommendation
In celebration of winning the Humanities Washington Award, we are sharing the letters of support and recommendation provided by CPL staff and...
CPF9 Carbonation Press Showcase VIDEO!
Carbonation Press Showcase VIDEO! On October 11, 2025, we followed a nice lunch at the 9th Cascadia Poetry Festival with a Carbonation Press...
Daysong Workshops with Paul Nelson
Daysong Workshops Jan. 22 and 25, 2026! January 22 and January 25 from 3-5 PM PDT, Cascadia Poetics Lab will be hosting FREE workshops facilitated...
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The Poetry Postcard Fest is an annual 56-day experiment in spontaneity and community building. This literarary event is a self-guided workshop in spontaneous composition where people sign up to send 31 original poems on postcards to folks on a participation list before the end of August. The fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul E. Nelson and Lana Ayers, and has grown to include poets participating worldwide. Registration opens annually on September 1.
Interview with Paul Nelson on the Poetry Postcard Fest
Sam Hamill said “Over the past decade or so, no one has done more for poetry in the Pacific Northwest than has Paul Nelson.” With the Poetry Postcard Fest, now in its 19th year, that influence is spreading well beyond the Cascadia bioregion and all over the world.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download ()
In Honor of David McCloskey “The Father of Cascadia”
David McCloskey passed away on July 3. In honor of his lifetime of work to create and spread a culture that was deeply connected to the Cascadian bioregion, Cascadian Prophets, which owes more than just its name to his work, we want to share this interview from October, 2013. Find it transcribed on our website.
Listen to more current and archival podcasts on Spotify or on our website.
In Honor of David McCloskey "The Father of Cascadia"
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We recognize that our home office is on the ancestral homeland of the Duwamish, Muckleshoot and other Coastal Salish tribes. Our dedication to bioregionalism is to co-exist on this land in the sacred manner as practiced by the traditional ways of these indigenous people.
Statement on Ahimsa by Board Member Jason Wirth
January 20, 2021
The (Poetry Postcard Fest) and the Cascadia Poetry Festival (are) connected… When you’re writing poetry… part of poetry is the craft… rules (to be understood) in a variety of contexts… (Craft is…) a necessary but not sufficient condition. You’re also… experiencing your mind, at a very deep level. And that mind as you experience it more deeply, is not in a vacuum… It’s now and here… rooted in the socio-economic and ecological conditions that make it possible. And participating in… the spiritual exercise of these postcards, is already entering into… a deep bioregional awakening and conversion. In a way we’re trying for something like a spiritual revolution, and that poetry is not just an interesting thing that you can do, if you like. It’s a fundamental exercise of being here in a less harmful way… it’s a deep ahimsa, a deep practice of non-harming and cultivation. And so, it’s all connected… And… our ambition is… trying to have a mind that would be capable, of being in this place in a better way… We’re going to live or die, by how we come down on these issues going forward.







































