Poetry Postcard Fest 2026
Early Bird Registration
The Poetry Postcard Fest is an annual 56-day experiment in spontaneity and community building. This literary 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.
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
18th Poetry Postcard Fest Stats
Updates and Stats for the 18th Poetry Postcard Fest We hope you are all enjoying the 18th Poetry Postcard Fest! This year, we celebrate a RECORD BREAKING amount of participants! We are so grateful...
What Kind of Postcard Poet are You?
What kind of Postcard Poet are you? Take this quiz and find out! From PPF committee member Ina Roy-Faderman:Did you know that there are different styles of postcard poets? There sure are! Take this...
Poetry Postcard Fest Updates!
Poetry Postcard Fest 2024 Updates! Thank you so much for registering for Poetry Postcard Fest 2024! We hope you are having an enriching and creative experience as you share your postcards with your...
Postcards from Here Highlights!
Postcards from Here and Postcards from Mapes Creek Highlights! On July 14, 2024, we hosted our first IN PERSON Poetry Postcard Fest events: Postcards from Here and Postcards from Mapes Creek!...
Press Release: CASCADIA POETICS LAB TO HOST POSTCARDS FROM MAPES CREEK EVENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 9, 2024Contact: Paul E. Nelson, pen@cascadiapoeticslab.org CASCADIA POETICS LAB TO HOST POSTCARDS FROM MAPES CREEK EVENT By Veronica Martinez, Administrative Assistant,...
Postcards From Mapes Creek
Postcards From Mapes Creek Join us next to Mapes Creek at 4:30 Sunday, July 14, 2024, as Tim Mateer, of Austin, TX, Abhaya Thomas of Portland, OR, and Colette Dutton of Yellville, AR, talk about...
Give BIG PPF & Your Postcard Testimonials!
Support Cascadia Poetics Lab and Poetry Postcard Fest May 6-7 Thank you for being a postcard poet! We are gearing up for another summer of postcards and postcard events, more information on the way!...
Postcard Reflections by Zach Charles
From PPF committee member Zach Charles: I recently had the privilege and honor to interview Paul E Nelson, Founder of the Cascadia Poetics Lab and co-founder of the Poetry Postcard Fest with Lana...
Postcards in Rainier Beach
Happy spring! We're gearing up for another exciting summer of postcard poetry, and have some great opportunities for connecting with postcard poets and spreading the love for postcard poetry soon!...
A 5-week online poetry workshop designed for folks with a wide variety of experience with poetry and with a keen interest in spirituality and the occult. This course is more than a workshop; it’s a journey into the unknown, where you’ll discover hidden messages and ideas both from within yourself and the outside world. Through chance, divination, games, and ritual, you’ll learn to trust your intuition and let your spontaneity guide your writing.
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
September 7 – October 5, 2025
Poet as Radio: Writing from Intuition
Poet as Radio: Writing from Intuition
A 5-week online poetry workshop designed for folks with a wide variety of experience with poetry and with a keen interest in spirituality and the occult. This course is more than a workshop; it’s a journey into the unknown, where you’ll discover hidden messages and ideas both from within yourself and the outside world. Through chance, divination, games, and ritual, you’ll learn to trust your intuition and let your spontaneity guide your writing.
Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
September 7 – October 5, 2025
Robert Duncan’s H.D. Book: The Roots of Modernism with Michael Boughn
We will read The H.D. Book together over 5 weeks. It’s a big book, so that’s a lot of reading, but he’s a joy to read, so it’s not exactly onerous. I will probably talk a bit at the beginning of each session and then open it up to the participants. I wrote the introduction. You should read it first. We can talk about that as well. The goal here is to let Duncan lead us into an encounter with the marvelous as we follow his encounter with H.D. as it led him into the depths of history, mind, and soul.
Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 PM Pacific Time
September 17 – October 15, 2025
Robert Duncan’s H.D. Book: The Roots of Modernism with Michael Boughn
We will read The H.D. Book together over 5 weeks. It’s a big book, so that’s a lot of reading, but he’s a joy to read, so it’s not exactly onerous. I will probably talk a bit at the beginning of each session and then open it up to the participants. I wrote the introduction. You should read it first. We can talk about that as well. The goal here is to let Duncan lead us into an encounter with the marvelous as we follow his encounter with H.D. as it led him into the depths of history, mind, and soul.
Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 PM Pacific Time
September 17 – October 15, 2025
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem and Poetics as Cosmology 2025 Workshops
A five week online (Zoom) workshop best suited for continuing participants and more experienced poets (open to open form) in workshops facilitated by Cascadia Poetics Lab and Poetry Postcard Fest Co-Founder Paul E Nelson. Participate in reading and discussion of foundational essays, interviews, listening and other assignments, as well as spontaneous poetry composition exercises. In Fall 2025, we’ll explore a short history of Projective/Outside North American Poetry, focused on:
Whitman & Dickinson
- Whitman & Dickinson
- WCW & Lorine Niedecker
- Olson & Levertov
- McClure & di Prima
- Daphne Marlatt, Brenda Hillman, & Nate Mackey
Life as Rehearsal for the Poem (LARFP)
- Sundays, 3-5 PM PDT
- November 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2025
Poetics as Cosmology (PAC)
- Thursdays, 3-5 PM PDT
- October 30, November 6, 13, 20, and December 4, 2025
How the Poetry Postcard Fest Works
Abhaya Thomas Postcard
How the Poetry Postcard Fest Works
Abhaya Thomas Postcard