Click on any title (in bold) to submit a comment.
-
THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC November 2024 issue showcases JC Sulzenko and Vin Grabill
JC thanks Editor Jenny O’Grady for selecting her to work with visual artist Vin Grabill for the 59th 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
-
LIFE, AFTER LIFE–FROM EPITAPH TO EPILOGUE launched in Toronto
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.
-
ARTSCENE featured JC’s winning cento on 99.3FM Voice of the County
JC thanks ARTSCENE host Sarah Moran for inviting her to participate in the discussion on June 2 of winning entries in the 2023 Wind & Water Writing Contest, the 5th such competition sponsored by County Arts in Prince Edward County.
JC, writing as A. Garnett Weiss, won first prize for her cento, “For our many moods, there is nothing like a lantern.” Taking part in the conversation about the contest and sharing thoughts about why and how they write were contest Judges Leigh Nash and Andrew Faulkner and prose winner Dawn Miller.
Copies of Weiss’s collection, BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, a finalist for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award (Canadian Authors Association), are available from Books & Company in Picton and at the Prince Edward County Municipal Library.
-
Ontario Poetry Society and Aeolus House Poetry Afternoon April 15, 2PM-4PM
JC reads from her collection, Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos, at the Spring into Poetry in-person book launch, Saturday, April 15 at the Toronto Public Library’s Main Street Branch, 137 Main Street.
IB Iskov, President and Founder of the Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS), and Aeolus House Publisher Allan Briesmaster co-host this TOPS event at which members will read from their new titles.
JC, who serves as a member-at-large on TOPS’ executive committee, will read a cento from her collection. Which one will she choose?
Here’s a link to the TOPS website with full details: https://www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca/Events.html
-
BRICOLAGE in the Poetry Super Highway 2023 Great Poetry Exchange
JC Sulzenko participated in the Poetry Super Highway’s Great Poetry Exchange by sending a copy of her collection of centos to another poet whose address the US-based publisher provided. She wrote BRICOLAGE as A. Garnett Weiss, her pseudonym.
Here’s the link to the list of poets whose work featured in this 2023 initiative:
https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great_poetry_exchange/“This exchange is the brainchild of the Poetry Super Highway, which offered a most welcome lift in the dead of winter. Some 101 poets joined in the program and were paired randomly. I am most curious about my ‘twin’s’ poetry and look forward to the surprizes in store for me,” JC commented.
“Thanks to publisher Rick Lupert for the idea and for showcasing the work of participating poets on the Poetry Super Highway site.”
The Poetry Super Highway explains its mission this way: “To expose as many people to as many other people’s poetry as possible.” The publisher encourages users to read poems, submit their poetry for publication, enter its annual poetry contest, and peruse its directory of writing and poetry websites.