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
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.
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.
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.
Poetry as Neuro-Resilience
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
Margaret Lee’s Old School Postcard Habit
From Margaret Lee: My kids think I am hopelessly antiquated for sending email and actually reading the messages in my inbox every day. But when I...
Zach Charles: Lessons from Last Year, Intentions for 2023
From Zach Charles: I would like to take this space to do two things. One: reflect on lessons from last year’s fest. Two: set some intentions for...
The Postcard as Bread or…
...It’s the vehicle for getting the offering to other poets. (from Sally Hedges-Blanquez) Here are a few things I’ve learned in the 5 years I’ve...
Five Ways to Become a Postcard Pro
From Judy Kleinberg: If you’re a newcomer to the Poetry Postcard Fest, you may be uncertain about the “right way” to do this crazy thing of writing...
LITTLE BOOK, BIG FILE
The Poetry Postcard Fest is my most consistent experience with what Paul (Paul E Nelson, founding director of Cascadia Poetics Lab and co-founder of...
CPL’s New AA – Veronica Martinez
We are delighted to announce that the Cascadia Poetics Lab has a new Administrative Assistant, Veronica Martinez. A little about her: Veronica...
The Art of Cartography
Looking at the blank canvas of a new map: merely a rough outline—what to put on? No, no, that’s the wrong question! Not what I want to impose, but...
The Columbia River Confluence Project
The latest Cascadian Prophets podcast is an interview with Ann Batchelor Hursey, author of Field Notes: To Maya Lin’s Confluence Project Landscapes,...
Video from Postcard Fest Zoom Open House
On Sunday June 4, 2023, we held a Postcard Fest Zoom Open House. We had 25 attendees and we introduced the new Poetry Postcard Fest Project Board:...
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
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...
2024 Annual Report
Cascadia Poetics Lab 2024 Annual Report Our 2024 report outlining Cascadia Poetics Lab's major accomplishments, fundraising and organizational...
Thankful Thursday: Curiosity & Care by Drew Myron
From postcard poet Drew Myron: After a steady stream of arrivals, my mailbox is now empty. I just completed the annual Poetry Postcard Fest, an...
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Poetry Postcard Fest 2026
Registration is closed
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.
Dr. Rudy Rÿser on the Center for World Indigenous Studies
An interview with Dr. Rudolph Rÿser, founder and board chair emeritus of the Center for World Indigenous Studies.
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.