JC Sulzenko, Canadian Poet & Author

JC thanks Editor Jenny O’Grady for selecting her to work with visual artist Vin Grabill for the 59^th  issue of The Light Ekphrastic (TLE.)

 “I have been paired with exciting creators through this online, innovative journal a number of times. This autumn’s experience proved challenging and rewarding.”

 The journal’s process allows each partner to select from three offerings submitted by his/her/their counterpart.

 “Vin Grabill’s three paintings struck me forcibly. I found it hard to choose on which one to focus. Once I’d made my decision, I wrote “Geometrics for beginners” with Vin’s arresting image, “Idea,” as my point of departure.

“From the three poems I put forward, Vin created the image “Head held high,” in light of my poem, “Do-si-do.” His work gives me a deeper understanding of the layers of intention in my own writing.”

JC enjoys the collaboration at the heart of ekphrasis. “Looking at the work of an artist and then allowing myself as a person and a poet to respond, whether directly to the artwork, or indirectly as to where that reflection leads me, involves exploration, discovery, and learning. As I begin to write, I find that the poem knows where it must go to respond.”

Here’s the link to the online journal featuring their ‘ARTnership:

https://thelightekphrastic.com

Aeolus House launched JC’s new book of poetry, Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue, on Sunday, November 3, at the Free Times Café in Toronto. The book is published under JC’s pen name, A. Garnett Weiss.

The event celebrated how JC turned words and phrases found in obituaries published in the Globe and Mail into over 60, five-line, memorable poems.

JC explained that reading obituaries was uplifting, not a ‘down’ experience. “I read them all—for the stories, for what they say about life rather than about death.”  She likened the poems to an epilogue or afterword in the way each poem rounds out conclusions she drew from the prose articles and notices.

Keys at the end of the collection provide the given names of each person about whom JC learned. “Listing the names reflects my wish to honour the memory of each person about whom I read while respecting their privacy. The keys also acknowledge obituary articles to which I referred,” JC added.

The evening featured guest poets Donna Langevin and Kate Rogers reading from their own body of work in response to poems in Life, after life.

“I was honoured to appear on the same program with Kate and Donna. They chose their own poems with such care and attention and picked up on themes in the four poems from Life, after life that they read aloud. I am most grateful to them.”

Copies of Life, after life are available through this website, in Toronto at Book City in the Beach, in Ottawa at Perfect Books and at Octopus Books, in Picton at Books & Company.