Poetry Postcard Fest 2027
Registration IS OPEN
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 & must 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.
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 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
How it Works
The fest is a self-guided 56 day workshop in spontaneous composition and community. Click to learn more about How it Works.
Poetry Postcard Fest News
478. Hipster Cancer
477. Still Echoing (For Lennie Tristano)
I've blogged about the inspiration for this poem before but here is the text and postcard image and below find the Soundcloud widget.
Ontological Kinesiology in Puebla
It was quite a melange of cultures in Puebla during the 14th Subud World Congress August 1-17, 2014. (See my previous posts here and here.) To give you some sense of how diverse the event was, these...
476. Logic of Ordnance
This poem continues from the last postcard poem and Levertov's notion of the acts that serve as counterstrokes to the ills of the world. She would have been writing about WWII, a war in which she...
475. Counterstroke
As with all 2014 August Poetry Postcard Fest poems, this one uses Levertov again as the source of its epigraph and the poem continues the theme of that quote and it weaves through familiar...
474. Ghost Training
The fourth poem from the 2014 August Poetry Postcard Fest, this one continues in the theme of the notion of The Practice of Outside. That an ancestor of Levertov was said to be able to understand...
Postcard Orientation
Join us Via Zoom, Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 10am PDT for a Poetry Postcard Fest orientation. If you have never participated before, here's your chance to see how it works. If you HAVE done the fest...
Poetry Postcard Fest: Black Mountain Style
I was delighted to team up with postcarder (with a new book!) Margaret Lee for an essay that has been published in The Journal for Black Mountain College Studies, Volume 12. (pdf) Postcard poets...
2021, Year 15, Tribute to di Prima, McClure
Have you seen the gorgeous Online Poetry Postcard Fest Exhibit yet? Thank you Kristen Ryberg and James Gaynor for making it a reality. On that site you can read that the 15th year of the Poetry...
The Poetry Postcard Fest, initiated by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers in 2007, invites participants to create and send 31 original poems on postcards throughout August. The fest emphasizes spontaneity, with poems written in one take directly onto postcards for recipients worldwide. Registration opens annually on September 1, and participants receive a list of fellow poets to exchange cards with. A $15 contribution supports the Cascadia Poetics LAB, and scholarships are available. For more details and resources on postcard poetry, visit How it Works or check out related essays and wrap-ups from past participants.
How the Poetry Postcard Fest Works
Abhaya Thomas Postcard
How the Poetry Postcard Fest Works
The Poetry Postcard Fest, initiated by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers in 2007, invites participants to create and send 31 original poems on postcards throughout August. The fest emphasizes spontaneity, with poems written in one take directly onto postcards for recipients worldwide. Registration opens annually on September 1, and participants receive a list of fellow poets to exchange cards with. A $15 contribution supports the Cascadia Poetics LAB, and scholarships are available. For more details and resources on postcard poetry, visit How it Works or check out related essays and wrap-ups from past participants.
Abhaya Thomas Postcard