Seattle's Cascadia Poetics Lab is set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Cascadia Poetry Festival from October 9-11, 2026, at the Rainier Beach Community Club and Kubota Garden. The event will feature a lineup of prominent poets and academics from the Cascadia bioregion and beyond, offering workshops, panel discussions, and readings that explore the intersection of poetry with environmental, political, historical, and sociological themes.
The festival's core mission is to highlight how natural and cultural boundaries—rather than arbitrary political ones—can inform responses to climate change and other pressing social issues. By fostering a dialogue between poetry and bioregionalism, the festival aims to inspire new ways of thinking about community and place. This year's featured speakers include allia abdullah-matta, Greg Bem, Amaranth Borsuk, Bill Carty, Xavier Cavazos, Zach Charles, Ching-in Chen, Stephen Collis, Gary Copeland Lilley, Tess Gallagher, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Geneviève Hicks, Alicia Hokanson, Nadine Maestas, Dion O'Reilly, Roxi Power, Mateo Quispe, Linda Russo, Sharon Thesen, Miriam Tobin, Rodrigo Toscano, Matt Trease, and Terri Witek.
Workshops will cover a range of topics, from bioregional poetics and poetry as politics to lyric form and the connection between internal and external worlds. Attendees can also participate in sessions addressing poetry in times of crisis. The festival will include evening afterparties on Friday and Saturday at a nearby location in Rainier Beach, providing informal opportunities for networking and creative exchange.
The festival is supported by a variety of organizations, including 4Culture Sustained Support and 4Culture Public Free Access, Creative West, the Vogt Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, ArtsFund, La Sala, and CPL Supporters. Registration for gold passes, workshop packages, reading packages, and student passes is now open via the festival website: Cascadia Poetry Festival 2026. A complete schedule is available at Festival Schedule.
Cascadia Poetics Lab, founded in Auburn, Washington, on December 14, 1993, has been a vital force in the region's poetry community. Founding Director Paul E. Nelson is available for interviews, and more information about the organization and its offerings can be found at Cascadia Poetics Lab.
