Cascadia Poetics LAB
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Cascadia Poetics LAB

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

December 12 Workshop I Want to Write a Poem But Don't Know How

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.

December 12 Workshop I Want to Write a Poem But Don't Know How

Poetry as Neuro-Resilience

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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

536. Jupiter in Virgo

Another Georgia O’Keeffe image used for this latest 2015 August Poetry Postcard and one of the shortest 2015 postcard poems mostly because of the...

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535. Green For Red

Another Georgia O’Keeffe image, this latest August Poetry Postcard Fest poem was sent as prayer for a postcarder in the middle of summer wildfire...

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533. Wait for Latté

One of the cards I brought back from my 2014’s trip to Wisconsin that was part of my work in the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest. This one with...

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Postcards for Garcia

A follow up to the post about my recent trip to Taos, New Mexico. Amalio Madueño is community development specialist and brilliant poet of Yaqui and...

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532. Old as the Devil

ANOTHER devil reference in this latest of the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest and an image of one to boot. I love how the neighbors across the...

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530. Cig Butt Mystery

If you believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine, you know the lung/heart meridian is related to grief. I can't help thinking that anytime someone has...

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Postcards for Peace

I participated in the first World Peace Poets postcard project this past February, after being invited by Carla Shafer. Rather than post every poem...

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Cascadia Poetics LAB Blog

Thank You 4Culture

Thank You 4Culture

Cascadia Poetics LAB Expresses Appreciation to 4Culture for Doors Open Sustained Support Funding Grant “It’s a home run for culture in this...

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Spring Thoughts

Spring Thoughts

From PPF Committee member Ina Roy-Faderman: in the northern hemisphere, we’re getting more sunshine. while Tennyson (bless him)* described spring as...

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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.

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.

David McCloskey

In Honor of David McCloskey "The Father of Cascadia"

by Paul E Nelson

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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.