JC Sulzenko, Canadian Poet & Author

As we learn more about the tragic fire, I welcome the tributes and words about those men who lost their lives in Wainwright. It’s important to learn who they are so that, even for those of us who will only know them because they perished, their loss becomes our loss, too.

I continue to hold out hope that the survivors who are in critical condition can recover and be well again.

As to the referendum, I thank Alberta voters for their rejection of any move to separate from Canada. Imperfect as our country is, we are far stronger together. What we have to do is pull together and move together to resist the pull of forces that would see us fail.

I have amended the plea to Alberta Grandmothers I posted on voting day. I think there’s a real role for Grandmothers across Canada to create an alliance of good-sense, to let our children and grandchildren see how important we feel it is be Canadian, to stay Canadian, and to identify ways we can contribute to keeping our country sovereign.

Feel free to share it.

THANK YOU, GRANDMOTHERS IN ALBERTA

                                                            

Hello to you from where I am.

You saw Canada was in a tough jam.

How we must stick together, you agreed,

which is why I felt it necessary to plead.

You voted no to separation, the choice was stark.

Anything else would have left our future in the dark.

You know what’s happening in the US of A.

Rights thrown out the window every day.

People in prisons, shot without reason.

On health care and fairness it’s open season.

Greed and lies still govern our former good friend. 

Threats to Canadians stay real! They will not end.

It’s clear to all US values are wrong for us.
Though imperfect, our union offers more than a plus.

What we have to do now is work better together

so that we prosper, no matter what the weather.

Remember it’s our grandchildren’s lives that are on the line.

You’ll want to be able to say to your grandkids as I say to mine:

Together, we must push forward, stand up for what we are:

Free people, with a country that’s envied from near and afar.

I had to write and to send this outreach to each one of you:

Please work for your country’s future —it’s in your power, it’s true.

On October 14 JC Sulzenko read three new free verse poems reflecting on photographs in Luminous 2026, the current photography show at Toronto’s Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Avenue.

Her poems respond to images created by photographers Martha Davis, Brianna Caryll, Lucie Collins and Henrietta Walmark.

“The show continues to grace the main hall of the Heliconian Club and showcases the artistry of member photographers. I was delighted to write new poems inspired by their evocative images, ” JC said. She also read poems by Kate Marshall Flaherty, Elizabeth Ruth, and Bianca Lakoseljac who couldn’t participate that night.

The opening event in this month-long showcase took place on Saturday, October 3 before an audience of around 150. Wednesday evening included music, dance and spoken word performances, as well as talks by the photographers whose work is represented in the exhibition. More than 120 visitors came to view the photographs, and many stayed for the show.

“A wonderful celebration of collaboration not to be missed,’ JC notes. The show continues at the Club until October 28.

Here’s a link to the Club’s site for Luminous 2026:

https://torontoheliconianclub.wildapricot.org/event-6747477/Registration

Registration link

JC Sulzenko’s chapbook of found poems, How Solitudes Resound: Conversations with Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson and Emily Carr, has been accepted by Rufus Book Publishing, Canadian publisher of quality books, chapbooks and broadsides by poets primarily from Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.  

“I am honoured that publisher Ágnes Cserháti has added this collection of twelve free verse poems to her upcoming list. Rufus Books chapbooks are works of art in themselves,” JC stated. “I can hardly wait to see the poems in print.”

How Solitudes Resound  brings together the words and worlds of three iconic women creatives from different countries and eras: novelist Jane Austen, poet Emily Dickinson and visual artist Emily Carr. The poems create a compelling and unique conversation between the women that bridges time and place.

Canadian poet JC Sulzenko writes found poetry and centos under the pen name, A. Garnett Weiss. Recent publications include Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos (short listed for the Canadian Authors Association 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award) and Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue (2024), both from Aeolus House. Point Petre Publishing released her debut collection of narrative and lyric poetry, South Shore Suite…POEMS, in 2017.

For more information on Rufus Book Publishing: https://www.rufusbookspublishing.ca

A poem JC included in her debut collection from Point Petre Publishing, South Shore Suite…POEMS (2017) appears in the August newsletter from the South Shore Joint Initiative (SSJI). JC thanks editor John F. Foster for choosing it for the issue.

Here’s a link to where the poem can be found on the SSJI site:

https://www.ssji.ca/the_south_shoreliner_37_august2026?utm_campaign=the_south_shoreliner_37_aug26&utm_medium=email&utm_source=southshoreji#choreography

“I wrote ‘Choreography for an afternoon’ during a silent retreat on the Madawaska River. Unaccustomed as I was to being restricted in this way, I found the days passed quickly as I wrote, read and created collages. I returned to that ecumenical facility a couple of times and left after each stay refreshed, “ JC explained.

SSJI describes its mandate this way: “a volunteer-run Canadian, non-profit charitable organization with a vision to permanently protect Prince Edward County’s South Shore, where together biodiversity and people thrive.”