This will be the third 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 December 12, 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 third 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 December 12, 2026, 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
Cost: free, suggested donation $25.
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 9-11 AM 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
2024 POSTCARD FEST REGISTRATION IS OPEN
The 2023 Poetry Postcard Fest is over & ends with the second largest participation in 17 years. See stats here. From The Fun Matters! “I keep...
Poet Spotlight: Tess Gallagher
Among the many influential Cascadian poets that we are excited to welcome to the 7th Cascadia Poetry Festival on October 6-8 is the award winning...
Announcing the Poetry Postcard Fest Project Board
Introducing the Poetry Postcard Fest Project Board, a committee of the Cascadia Poetics Lab dedicated to improving the experience of the annual...
Riding the FireWind
Top photo: Mckenzie River Fire, photo by Marcus Kauffman, Oregon Dept of Forestry, 9/8/20 —David McCloskey, © Sept 8, 2020 Prologue BC is burning,...
Riding the FireWind Raining Ash at the Oregon Coast Photos
Top photo: Smoke Shrouded Devil's Elbow SP, near Florence, Oregon Coast, photo by David McCloskey. This is one of the most beloved places on the...
WHULGE: The Wheel of Waters
Image excerpted from McCloskey's map "The Ish River-Lillooet Country with The Salish Sea," 2021, available with its companion map of "Cascadia: A...
Interview with Stephen Thomas, Part 1
Before moving to Europe, Auburn, Washington native Stephen Thomas was quite active in the Seattle literary scene. He came back to Seattle (&...
Press Release: Register for the 7th Annual Cascadia Poetry Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 14, 2023Contact: Paul E. Nelson, pen@cascadiapoeticslab.org REGISTER FOR 7TH ANNUAL CASCADIA POETRY FESTIVAL By Veronica...
The Fun Matters!
by Margaret Lee I keep signing up for the Poetry Postcard Fest every year, primarily because it’s the most fun I ever have when writing poetry....
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
After Hurricane Melissa: Rebuilding the Kindred Community
Provide assistance for Jamaican community members affected by Hurricane Melissa From Staceyann Chin, poet and founder of Kindred on the Rock, an...
Cascadia Poetics Lab wins a Humanities Washington Award!
Cascadia Poetics Lab and founder Paul E. Nelson won a Humanities Washington Award! Thanks to a nomination by Katie Sarah Zale and magnificent...
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...
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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 Harold Rhenisch on The Salmon Shanties: A Cascadian Song Cycle
Harold Rhenisch interviewed by Paul E Nelson about The Salmon Shanties: A Cascadian Song Cycle.
Podcast (prophets-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:27 — 70.7MB)
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.





































