Poetry Postcard Fest 2026
Early Bird Registration
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.
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
APPF13 Update
As of this writing there are 424 participants for the 13th Poetry Postcard Fest. Registration for 2019 ended July 18 and has BEGUN for APPF14. It will end July 4, 2020, earlier than in past years!...
August Poetry Postcard Fest 2019 Official Call
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2019 marks the thirteenth year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual...
APPF (Postcards Are Here Again)
The signup is already open for the 13th August Poetry Postcard Fest and opens EVEN EARLIER for 2020. (July 18, 2019!) In order to allow as many people as possible to participate in the joy of...
Call for August Poetry Postcard Fest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SPLAB ISSUES CALL FOR 13TH AUGUST POETRY POSTCARD FEST Seattle, WA, June 5, 2019—Seattle Poetics LAB (SPLAB), a literary arts-oriented nonprofit organization and organizing...
CPF, BIPF, NYC, APPF13
I have been running since about May 7 and no rest in sight as I write this from Brooklyn, in the city that does not sleep because jackhammers start at 7am and people are never afraid to use their...
Poetry Postcard Fest 2019 (Official Call)
The August Poetry Postcard Fest was initiated in 2007 by poets Paul Nelson and Lana Ayers. 2019 marks the thirteenth year of the fest and this is the official call. It is the biggest annual...
Postcard Fest Open Mic Saturday, Sept 10 9am PDT
Did your card get there? Could anyone read your handwriting? Do you want to try to match a postcard poet's face with their handwriting and poetry? Maybe that all could happen at the Postcard Fest...
2023 Postcard Fest Registration is Open
The 2022 Poetry Postcard Fest is over & ends with the largest participation in 16 years. 17 total groups tie the 2020 expanded pandemic fest. Doing the math and assuming all participants will...
2022 Postcard Fest Stats
The stats are now final for the 2022 Poetry Postcard Fest. Participants: 544 The highest fest participation in 16 years, matching the pandemic year, 2020. Countries, 12: Australia, Canada, France,...
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