Poetry Postcard Activations
Free Poetry & Community Events in Rainier Beach!
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem and Poetics as Cosmology 2026 Workshops
A five week online (Zoom) workshop best suited for continuing participants and more experienced poets (open to open form) in workshops facilitated by Cascadia Poetics Lab and Poetry Postcard Fest Co-Founder Paul E Nelson. Participate in reading and discussion of foundational essays, interviews, listening and other assignments, as well as spontaneous poetry composition exercises. In Winter 2026, we’ll explore a short history of Cascadian poetry, touching on:
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- Theodore Roethke
- Fred Wah
- Daphne Marlatt
- George Bowering
- Mary Norbert Kõrte
- John Olson
- Phyllis Webb
- Stephen Collis
- Sharon Thesen
- Barry McKinnon
- Cedar Sigo
- George Stanley
- Robin Blaser
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem (LARFP)
- Sundays 3-5 PM PDT
- March 29, April 5, 12, 19, and 26, 2026
Poetics as Cosmology (PAC)
- Thursdays 3-5 PM PDT
- March 26, April 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2026
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
Poetry Postcard Fest 2023: Statistics, People, and Peace
When I flex my muscle of empathy, I am capable of hearing not only your words, but also your humanity -- Paul K. Chappell, Founder and Executive...
Mountains & Plateaus of Cascadia
By David McCloskey© July 2023,Cascadia Institute Living here we are stunned by high rugged Mountains and huge open Plateaus. Each is impressive in...
Confessions of an excessively organized postcarder (Judy Kleinberg)
I wouldn’t say I’m obsessive, but I definitely trend toward organized. So when it comes to the annual Poetry Postcard Fest, I like to stay ahead of...
The Windfall (Zach Charles)
It happened! As the Poetry Postcard Fest begins, the universe has bestowed me with a gift. The winter ‘97 issue of The Kenyon Review, produced from...
Postcard Fest Registration Press Release
SEATTLE, WA, July 02, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Cascadia Poetics Lab invites anyone interested in writing and receiving personal, original poetry...
Crackers, Carbs, & Postcards…
From Sally Hedges-Blanquez: I just opened some empty boxes, flattened them, & chopped away with my old school paper cutter. Instead of 3 boxes...
Interview with Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs
What a joy to engage Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs for a Cascadian Prophets podcast interview. I hosted her at Casa del Colibrí on June 15, 2023 and...
Postcard Fest Open Mic (Short Version)
Ace Administrative Assistant Veronica Martinez has created a Cliff Notes version of the June 4, 2023 Poetry Postcard Fest Open House. See: As of...
Holding Meaning Lightly
In 2017 the great Zen poet Norman Fischer had this Facebook post: Poems are not necessarily supposed to do you any good. People think that poems...
Two versions of what will be basically the same workshop to discuss the concept of the daysong, how to accomplish one and what it means to the poet who pulls it off.
Thursday, January 22, 2026 3-5 PM PDT
Monday, January 26, 2026 3-5 PM PDT
Workshop Cost: Free, with optional donation of $20-$100.00 (On Zoom)
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
Cascadian Zen in Northern California
Cascadian Zen Book Event in Mendocino County, Northern California From Theresa Whitehill, event organizer: Ukiah poets and poetry scholars Theresa...
Postcard Lists and Open House July 4!
Happy postcard season! Postcard lists go out this Friday, July 4! If you have already confirmed your mailing address with us, you are good to go! If...
Postcards at the Olympic Sculpture Park
Join us for another summer Poetry Postcard Fest event! On July 13, 2025 from 11 AM-3 PM PST, Cascadia Poetics Lab will be tabling at the Olympic...
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.
Nicholas Gulig Interview
The Poet Laureate of Wisconsin Nicholas Gulig discussing the influence legendary poet Lorine Niedecker had on his work, recreating her trip around Lake Superior and discussing the poem’s similarity with an altar.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:14 — 66.3MB)
Our current media landscape seems hooked on a doom loop, an apocalyptic dream of human self-annihilation from collapsing nation states and anarchy to climate change to AI terminators, to genocidal warmongering. In order to avoid going down with that ship, we, as humans, are going to need to flip the script, to learn to think differently.
Click this link for more information about the workshop Thinkingwith: Writing Strategies for Reconnecting to Earth.
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
February 15, 22, March 1, 8, and 15, 2026
thinkingwith: writing strategies for reconnecting to earth
Our current media landscape seems hooked on a doom loop, an apocalyptic dream of human self-annihilation from collapsing nation states and anarchy to climate change to AI terminators, to genocidal warmongering. In order to avoid going down with that ship, we, as humans, are going to need to flip the script, to learn to think differently.
Click this link for more information about the workshop Thinkingwith: Writing Strategies for Reconnecting to Earth.
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
February 15, 22, March 1, 8, and 15, 2026
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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.



































