Poetry Postcard Fest

An annual 56 day self-guided workshop in spontaneous composition and community-building.

Poetry Postcard Fest 2025 Event Registration Banner

Poetry Postcard Fest

An annual 56 day self-guided workshop in spontaneous composition and community-building.

Poetry Postcard Fest 2025 Event Registration Banner

A five week online (Zoom) workshop for first-time and continuing participants in the online 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 the first of three, five week courses to happen before next postcard season. Click to learn more.

Thursdays 2-5:00 PM Pacific Time
April 3 – May 1, 2025

Poetics As Cosmology Spring 2025

Poetics As Cosmology Spring 2025 Banner

Poetics As Cosmology Spring 2025

A five week online (Zoom) workshop for first-time and continuing participants in the online 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 the first of three, five week courses to happen before next postcard season. Click to learn more.

Thursdays 2-5:00 PM Pacific Time
April 3 – May 1, 2025

Poetics As Cosmology Spring 2025 Banner

Life as Rehearsal for the Poem Workshop

Life as Rehearsal for the Poem Spring 2025 Banner

A five week online (Zoom) workshop for first-time and continuing participants in the online 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 the first of three, five week courses to happen before next postcard season. Click to learn more.

Sundays 2-5:00 PM Pacific Time
April 6 – May 4, 2025.

Life as Rehearsal for the Poem Workshop

A five week online (Zoom) workshop for first-time and continuing participants in the online 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 the first of three, five week courses to happen before next postcard season. Click to learn more.

Sundays 2-5:00 PM Pacific Time
April 6 – May 4, 2025.

Life as Rehearsal for the Poem Spring 2025 Banner

Poet, translator, editor, Zen Buddhist, co-founder of Copper Canyon Press, and activist for Poets Against (the)War, Sam Hamill devoted his whole life to the practice of writing poetry. The following topics are foundational for this generative workshop: how ancient poetic traditions still define quality poetry, the Beat poets, the long poetic sequence, poetry as political, and the role of reflection and emotion. Facilitator Katie Sarah Zale is writing a biography on Hamill’s life and legacy.

Click to learn more.

Saturdays 2-4:00 PM Pacific Time
February 8 – March 8, 2025

Sam Hamill’s Narrow Road to the Interior

Workshop Banner Sam Hamill's Narrow Road to the Interior

Sam Hamill’s Narrow Road to the Interior

Poet, translator, editor, Zen Buddhist, co-founder of Copper Canyon Press, and activist for Poets Against (the)War, Sam Hamill devoted his whole life to the practice of writing poetry. The following topics are foundational for this generative workshop: how ancient poetic traditions still define quality poetry, the Beat poets, the long poetic sequence, poetry as political, and the role of reflection and emotion. Facilitator Katie Sarah Zale is writing a biography on Hamill’s life and legacy.

Click to learn more.

Saturdays 2-4:00 PM Pacific Time
February 8 – March 8, 2025

Workshop Banner Sam Hamill's Narrow Road to the Interior

Thinkingwith: writing strategies for reconnecting to earth

Thinking With Workshop with Matt Trease Web Banner

Our current media landscape seems hooked on a doom loop, an apocalyptic dream of human self-annihilation from collapsing nation states and anarchy to climate change to AI terminators, to genocidal warmongering. In order to avoid going down with that ship, we, as humans, are going to need to flip the script, to learn to think differently.

This lab will focus on writing strategies, applicable for poetry or prose, for breaking the spell that objectifies and cuts us off from the earth and from place and all the living beings that we (often) obliviously live in relationship with. We’ll do that by intentionally widening the socially-imposed conventions of “normal” perception via some minor alterations to our daily writing practices.

Click to learn more.

Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
February 23 – March 23, 2025

Thinkingwith: writing strategies for reconnecting to earth

Our current media landscape seems hooked on a doom loop, an apocalyptic dream of human self-annihilation from collapsing nation states and anarchy to climate change to AI terminators, to genocidal warmongering. In order to avoid going down with that ship, we, as humans, are going to need to flip the script, to learn to think differently.

This lab will focus on writing strategies, applicable for poetry or prose, for breaking the spell that objectifies and cuts us off from the earth and from place and all the living beings that we (often) obliviously live in relationship with. We’ll do that by intentionally widening the socially-imposed conventions of “normal” perception via some minor alterations to our daily writing practices.

Click to learn more.

Sundays 3-5:00 PM Pacific Time
February 23 – March 23, 2025

Thinking With Workshop with Matt Trease Web Banner

Zach Charles Releases First Book With Carbonation Press

Zach Charles releases first book of poetry, 24 Portraits at 24! Cascadia Poetics Lab volunteer and audio assistant Zach Charles has released their first book of poetry, 24 Portraits at 24, through Carbonation Press! The description of the book comes from Carbonation...

Celebrate Cascadia Poetics Lab on Giving Tuesday!

Celebrate CPL on Giving Tuesday Dec. 3! We thank all participants and attendees at the recent 8th Cascadia Poetry Festival. We hope to stage this at the Hugo House annually for years to come. Videos and photos from the festival will be shared on the Cascadia Poetics...

Poetry Postcard Certificates!

Share your postcard poems for a PPF certificate!  Thank you so much to every postcard poet that has already shared their postcard art and poems! Postcard poets that share 3 images of their postcard art with the accompanying poems get a certificate as a thank you for...

Rest in Poetry Richard Osler

Postcard poet Richard Osler died last night. Huge thanks to all postcard poets who wrote & sent a postcard poem to this fine human and poet. He accepted death like no one I have ever known. A book, his last love letter to life entitled What Holiness Will I Bring,...

Poetry Postcard Fest News

#APPF12 (2018) Afterword

I did not get a chance to write about my experience with the 12th Poetry Postcard Fest yesterday as I was leaving Ian, Jennifer and Gavia Boyden and their home on San Juan Island with my daughter...

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Six Postcards

Bhakti and I got back from an overnight sojourn to THE MULTIVERSE on San Juan Island yesterday. We went to the community/arts spot Ian, Jennifer and Gavia Boyden have created to showcase art and...

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2018 Postcard Participation

293 people are registered for the 12th Poetry Postcard Fest in 2018. Included are participants from Alberta (1), Alabama (9), Arkansas (1), Arizona (1), British Columbia (1), California (26),...

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Postcard Impersonality

Reading Mark Gonnerman's book A Sense of the Whole: Reading Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End I came to Tim Dean's essay on The Other Voice. In the essay he states that in his 40 year...

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Postcards in the Park

Two editors of 56 Days of August and two contributors gathered yesterday at the annual Poets in the Park event in Redmond, Washington. Ina Roy-Faderman, Your Humble Narrator, Joanna Thomas and Matt...

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Epistolary Poetry by Sam Hamill

I have been getting caught up on some of Sam Hamill's work since his death back in April. Last night reading from his 1981 book of "casual essays" or "over-the-shoulder" glances he titled At Home in...

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Mary Beth Frezon PPF Afterword

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 don’t worry about it if it doesn’t. I’m grateful...

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Alice Van Mill 2021 PPF Afterword

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 looking forward to receiving more in the mail.  I have...

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Judy Kleinberg 2021 PPF Afterword

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 when it’s over — when all of the postcards I’m...

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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