Beautiful books rooted in place
We are a small, independent literary press based in the heart of Cascadia. Dedicated to bioregional and place-based literature, we publish works that speak to and from the practice of its land, ecology, and community.
Explore Our Latest Poetry Titles
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![Cover of Swimming with Snakes by Robert Michael Pyle, featuring painting of swimming pool with snakes by Neil C. Johannsen, adapted photographically by Wayne Roth]()
Swimming With Snakes by Robert Michael Pyle
Swimming with Snakes is a leisured stream and forest bath of pure connection with the real, physical places in which we live.
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![Touch Wood by James Dott]()
Touch Wood by James Dott
Touch Wood is a lyric field guide to the Pacific Northwest's keystone trees. Blending natural history with poetry, Dott invites readers into a living forest of words, revealing the elemental secrets of these trees and our longstanding connection to them.
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![Cascadian Zen Volume 1]()
Cascadian Zen Volume One
Inspired by David McCloskey’s watershed map of Cascadia, this is the first of two volumes that assembles a wide-ranging selection of poets and philosophers united by their place-based practice of Cascadia.
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![Cascadian Zen Volume One Deluxe Edition]()
Deluxe Edition Cascadian Zen Volume One
Watershed Press is offering Cascadian Zen in a deluxe edition with a strictly limited printing of 26 numbered copies (and six copies hors commerce), hand bound in cloth.
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![Cascadian Zen Volume Two]()
Cascadian Zen Volume Two
Inspired by David McCloskey’s watershed map of Cascadia, this is the second of two volumes that assembles a wide-ranging selection of poets and philosophers united by their place-based practice of Cascadia.
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![Olson and Love]()
Olson & Love
What if the spark of The Maximus Poems began with a love affair?
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![On the Way to Kluusms]()
On the Way to Kluusms
On the Way to Kluusms traces a lyrical journey through Vancouver Island toward the Nass River (Kluusms in Sm’algyax), where the return of eulachon marks the turning of seasons.
At our core, we are an eco-conscious, bioregional press committed to sustainable publishing practices. We work with emerging and established Cascadian writers to bring bioregional literary collections and chapbooks to life.
As a small press rooted in the landscapes of Washington, Oregon, and the broader Cascadia region, we believe in the transformative power of poetry and the importance of local literary voices. Watershed Press was founded by Paul E. Nelson, Jason Tetsuzen Wirth, and Adelia MacWilliam in 2023 to support their first publication, Cascadian Zen, Volume One and Two, a carefully curated collection of poetry, essays, interviews, art, and photography from the bioregion of Cascadia. Our mandate is to foster compelling work by a wide range of voices allied deeply with place and sustainable and Indigenous approaches to navigating the ecological and political harm of the Anthropocene in the bioregion of Cascadia.