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
The Cards I Got + INTERVIEW SEASON!
Look at the 53 cards I got in 2021: If the baseball season can go into November, then postcard season can go late into October and I have been blown...
Poems for Peace with Andrew Schelling
The Cascadia Poetics Lab is proud to support Poems for Peace, an initiative of the Subud International Cultural Association. Poet Andrew Schelling,...
From JD Eames
Dear Paul, I hope this is the correct email to write you about the Festival. First time Postcard Poetry participant here. As of today, I've received...
Mary Beth Frezon PPF Afterword
Thank you Mary Beth Frezon, veteran postcarder, for these wise words: Yes I’m one of those people who mark your card as arrived when it does but I...
Founding Supporters Reading
We are delighted to present four master poets for our Founding Supporters, those who have contributed at least $100 to launch the new phase of the...
Alice Van Mill 2021 PPF Afterword
I enjoyed participating in the poetry festival. Although I only have received 9 poems so far, I can see the thoughtfulness in them. I will be...
Judy Kleinberg 2021 PPF Afterword
Longtime postcard poet and co-editor of 56 Days of August Judy Kleinberg has published her 2021 Poetry Postcard Fest afterword: I never know quite...
Judy Jensen PPF 2021 Afterward
Thanks to Paul, Group 1, and the regulars who register every year. You all make the festival the celebration that it is. I’ve been participating in...
Paul E Nelson is 60!
The Founding Director of the Cascadia Poetics LAB, Paul E Nelson was recently featured in Subud Voice, a publication based in Australia and...
Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog
Poetry From Journalism Exercise
Poetry From Journalism Exercise The news is chaotic and constant these days, but this week we bring you an exercise that can help you harness it for...
To AI or Not to AI (Definitely Not)
To AI or Not to AI? (Definitely not.) From Postcard Poet Kathy Paul: I’ve loved participating in the summer Poetry Postcard Fest since I first heard...
Personal Universe Deck Poetry Practice
Last week we brought you some inspiration from our 2024 Life As Rehearsal For the Poem and Poetics As Cosmology course, and this week we have...
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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.
Tessa Hulls Interview Feeding Ghosts
Paul E Nelson interviews Tessa Hulls on Feeding Ghosts her graphic memoir
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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.






































