Royal Block to host Cascadian Zen Launch on Nov. 24 at 7 pm

Waitsburg - The Royal Block Reading Series will welcome poets Paul Nelson, Adelia MacWilliam, Dr. Jason Wirth, and Sharon Thesen for readings in Waitsburg on November 24, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. Admission for the reading will be free to the public (21+).

This event will celebrate Cascadia Poetics Lab's release of its poetry anthology "Cascadian Zen Vol. I", featuring work from distinguished artists and authors throughout the Cascadia bioregion, published by Watershed Press.

Work in the anthology connects the mission of Cascadia Poetics Lab by exploring the nature of the Cascadia bioregion, Zen practice, and the many questions that follow these topics.

Paul E. Nelson is a published poet, interviewer, and an editor of Cascadian Zen. In 1993, Nelson founded Cascadia Poetics Lab, which empowers people to practice poetry and deepen connections to place, self, and the present moment. Believing self-knowledge, bioregionalism, and expansive creativity converge through poetry, Cascadia Poetics Lab hosts workshops and poetry festivals to expose participants to community, education, and transformation through poetry.

Adelia MacWilliam earned her MFA at the University of Victoria and is a founding editor of Watershed Press. She is co-founder of Cascadia Poetics Lab, www.cascadiapoeticslab.ca, which produces the monthly Red Tree reading series. Her most recent book is "Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds," edited by Yvonne Blomer and published by Caitlin Press.

Dr. Jason M. Wirth is a philosophy professor at Seattle University, focusing on Continental Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Environmental Philosophy. He is a founding editor of Watershed Press and a review editor for the journal "Comparative and Continental Philosophy." His recent books include "Nietzsche and Other Buddhas: Philosophy after Comparative Philosophy." He is an ordained Soto Zen priest and is founder and co-director of Seattle University's EcoSangha (www.ecosangha.net).

Sharon Thesen is a Canadian poet and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. Among her fourteen books of poetry are "The Wig-Maker" with Janet Gallant, "The Receiver," "Oyama Pink Shale," and "The Good Bacteria."