Cascadia Poetics Lab Marks a Decade of Bioregional Poetry with 10th Anniversary Festival

The Cascadia Poetics Lab, a Seattle-based nonprofit, will host the 10th Anniversary Cascadia Poetry Festival from October 9-11, 2026. The event, held at the Rainier Beach Community Club and Kubota Garden, will feature workshops, panel discussions, and readings from poets and academics across the Cascadia bioregion and beyond. This milestone celebration highlights the festival's enduring role in exploring the intersection of poetry with environmental, political, and social concerns.

The festival's core mission is to examine how poetry can respond to the pressing challenges of climate change and other societal issues by prioritizing natural and cultural boundaries over political ones. This bioregional approach has gained traction as communities seek more sustainable and locally grounded solutions. The festival provides a platform for poets to engage with these ideas, fostering a dialogue that connects artistic expression with activism and scholarship.

Featured speakers include allia abdullah-matta, Greg Bem, Amaranth Borsuk, Bill Carty, Xavier Cavazos, and many others. These poets and academics will lead workshops such as "Startling the Poem Awake," "Cascadia as a Field of Action (Poetry as Politics)," and "The Green Being." The workshops are designed to explore bioregional poetics, poetry as a political tool, lyric form, and the role of poetry during times of crisis. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning and critical discussions, making the festival a hub for creative and intellectual exchange.

The festival's significance extends beyond the literary community. By focusing on the Cascadia bioregion—which spans from Northern California to Alaska—the event underscores the importance of regional identity in addressing global issues. This perspective is increasingly relevant as climate change necessitates coordinated action across natural boundaries. The festival's emphasis on poetry as a means of understanding and responding to environmental and social challenges offers a unique contribution to broader conversations about sustainability and community resilience.

Registration for gold passes, workshop packages, reading packages, and student passes is now open via the festival website at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/2026-cascadia-poetry-festival-10/. A complete schedule is available at https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/2026-cascadia-poetry-festival-10-schedule/. The festival is supported by organizations including 4Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, reflecting the broad community backing for this cultural event.

The Cascadia Poetics Lab, founded in 1993, has long been dedicated to nurturing poetic practice and bioregional awareness. The 10th anniversary festival marks a decade of bringing poets together to explore these themes, and its continued growth signals the increasing relevance of its mission. As the world grapples with environmental and political turmoil, the festival offers a space for reflection, creativity, and collective action, making it a vital event for poets and non-poets alike.