Category: Archive

Cranberry Tree Press has selected the poem “Fairy Tales” for publication in its new anthology about luck, Happenstance, which will be published this autumn.
Written by JC under the name of A. Garnett Weiss, the poem brings forward moments from childhood to evoke the beauty and elusiveness of a mother figure. “I am delighted that this poem won a place in the collection and thank the judges and editors for including “Fairy Tales” among the works of such a distinguished group of poets. Here is the link to the list of contributing poets: http://www.cranberrytreepress.com/contest.php

JC has decided to post new poems that appeal to her to the line-a-day blog on this website. “I’ve worked on a number of writing projects over the summer months and have decided to share some poetry arising from this period of productivity from time to time.”

Starting today, Septembr 27, have a look at “Flight Immortal” which will be released line-by-line. This activity does not bring back the line-a-day project which JC undertook over more than two years and which came to an end once she felt posting a new line a day had become more of chore than a pleasure.

With her poem, “Spectacle” JC supports the fine work of the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists (see the poem at http://www.saveostranderpoint.org/spectacle-a-poem-by-jc-sulzenko/) in the organization’s appeal against the Environmental Review Tribunal’s dismissal of arguments concerning the impacts on the delicate alvar environment and on bird populations in the internationally designated Important Bird Area as a result of a project to site industrial wind turbines at Ostrander Point. The ERT did revoke the Government of Ontario’s permission for the 9-turbine project to proceed on the grounds that such a project would cause serious and irreversible harm to the Blandings turtle, already a species at risk.
Each turbine would be 3 times the height of the Peace Tower.
“This project and like projects in South Marysburgh make zero sense.” JC urges Ontarians to check out the PECFN website and the website of the Alliance to Protect Prince Edward County to find out the facts and how to support the citizen-based movement to site turbines elsewhere, where they will not harm people, the environment and species at risk.

Local writers reveled in the key tips JC revealed during the workshop she gave at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. With her suggestions to enhance the power of poetry, the group wrote poems on the spot, which the Church has undertaken to post on its website.

This 90+ minute experience with a pro encouraged poets to use words in a disciplined fashion since every word in a poem counts. JC also suggested new ways to pair verbs and nouns to achieve unexpected and original language. Here’s the link to the Church’s site:
http://standrewspicton.com/events/

As the song has it, summer brings good reasons to sing. Though weather ups and downs often confuse impatient worshippers of lazy, sunny days and meteor shower nights, fireflies, chorus frogs and distant whip-poor-wills create wonder.

Summer projects for JC include:
– editing the winning poetry from the 2013 Awesome Authors contest at the Ottawa Public Library and writing the foreword for Pot Pourri, the anthology of stories and poems to be published this autumn by the Friends of the OPL.
– crafting a commissioned poem on the 40th anniversary of The Glebe Report.
– refining her new play for children and families.
– creating a workshop for reluctant poets in Prince Edward County to free their voices — to be held in the evening of July 31 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church,Picton.
– anticipating the release of the Listen Up Ottawa commemorative book.
– smelling the roses, and getting the mites off them before they devour the leaves.

Wow!

That’s what JC had to say after the May 29 performance, under the baton of Rob Kapilow, who conducted the Gryphon Trio, students from Featherston Drive Public School and choirs under the direction of Jackie Hawley in the premiere of “Featherston Days,” an original suite arranged and composed by Andrew Staniland, based on music and poetry written by Grade 7 and 8 students at the school. JC was thrilled to have served this Listen Up! Ottawa project as poet-mentor.Go to the Ottawa Chambre Music Society Website for information on Listen Up! Ottawa.

“These young poets and composers show such promise. It has been wonderful to be associated with The Gryphon Trio’s project and with the school. The performance on May 29 provided a unique musical and literary opportunity to Ottawa audiences which revelled in these students’ creativity,” JC declared .

For her part in Listen Up! Ottawa at Featherston Drive Public School, JC spent many hours with participating classes and their teachers. She led a number of interactive workshops with each of the three classes involved, which focussed on building poetry-writing skills. She also offered individual coaching to students who wished to discuss their poems with her directly. Once all the poems were written, JC reviewed them and forwarded the students’ work to composer Andrew Staniland, who selected the poetry that would be incorporated into “Featherston Days.”

“I am hoping that Listen Up! Ottawa will publish a commemorative book on this project at Featherston Drive Public School. I look forward to seeing “Featherston Days” in print and salute The Gryphon Trio for enriching the project by adding this print dimension this year!”

In the autumn of 2012, the media advisory issued by the Chamber Music Society described Listen Up! Ottawa this way

“The initiative features Canadian composer Andrew Staniland and Ottawa poet JC Sulzenko, who will guide Featherston’s Grade 7 and 8 students in an intensive three-day creative writing and composition workshop. The three members of the Gryphon Trio (Roman Borys, cello; Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin; and Jamie Parker, piano) and percussionist David Schotzko will also be on hand to provide direction and inspiration.

“After the workshop is complete, Staniland will use the students’ collected ideas in a new musical arrangement, which the students themselves will perform on May 29, 2013 at Dominion-Chalmers United Church with the Gryphon Trio, the Cantiamo Girls Choir of Ottawa, the Ottawa Children’s Chorus, and members of Ottawa-based Leading Note Foundation’s Orkidstra. American composer and music commentator, Rob Kapilow, conducts.

“Listen Up! involves entire communities in a collaborative arts creation process. It teaches children to actively listen to music by engaging them in learning activities that combine music creation with poetry writing, music improvisation, movement, staging, and video creation. The program also offers parents the opportunity to re-engage with the arts, and it encourages local businesses and associations to support community arts initiatives.

“The Ottawa Chamber Music Society, whose mandate includes community outreach and arts education, is a funding partner and community host presenter of Listen Up! Ottawa. The Society will provide promotional, box office, front-of-house, and production support to the May 29 concert at Dominion-Chalmers.”

JC awarded prizes to poets writing in English, aged 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17, at last night’s ceremony at Ben Franklin Place in Ottawa. The 18th Awesome Authors Contest which the Ottawa Public Library holds and which the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library (FOPLA) sponsor attracted well over 500 entries in the English poetry. English short story, French poetry and French short story categories.

When JC asked all of the writers and poets who had submitted their creative work to the contest to stand, the crowd applauded widely. She spoke of the W-O-W-S/U factors she considered in selecting the top six poems in English in each age category and of how impressed she was by the originality of the submissions. She even admitted she wished she had written some of the lines.

“It is an honour and a privilege to serve as a judge for this contest. I am so happy to see how ALIVE poetry is for the young writers in our community,” she stated.

The list of winning stories and poems are available from the Ottawa Public Library. These poems and stories will be published by FOPLA in an anthology, “Pot Pourri,” in October. FOPLA is running a contest for a new cover design for the publication and encourages all young artists to come forward with their concepts. Here’s the link to a photo of some of the winning poets: http://www.ottawapubliclibraryfriends.ca/media/pdf/Newsletter_Summer_2012.pdf

It’s not often that a request comes along to share insight into what you did when you began your career. In fact, that era, now surprisingly many years ago, seemed to JC to be part almost of another lifetime.
JC worked for more than thirty years in the Government of Canada. When she retired early, she embraced the writing life 100% and rarely looked back.
An email from Ed Conroy, founder of Retrontario (www.retrontario.com), brought her back to the past and to one truly creative accomplishment from those early days about which she still talks enthusiastically.
Here’s the link to the story which resurrects TV public service announcements in the 1970’s that featured aliens from outer space (puppets Binkley and Doinkel) as part of a program to teach children about hazardous product symbols on labels of household products so that they would not be tempted to play with such materials. Many adults who were children then still remember seeing the ads and the puppet shows in playgrounds and schools and learning of such dangers from them.
http://blog.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/blog/posts/rooks-of-hazard-the-true-adventures-of-binkley-and-doinkel/
JC continues to take delight in knowing that Binkley and Doinkel’s exploits were not in vain!

The Line-a-day poem blog began on this site one October as an experiment in disciplining JC to write and post each day. It continued through two Octobers in this mode, until February, 2013. At which point, JC gave herself permission to write and post, not necessarily on a daily basis, but rather when lines come to her. In such a way, she also frees herself to pursue new and enticing directions in her work.

When she does post, JC will only add one line at a time and will retain the tanka form for the posts, as she interprets it. In such a way, the poetry blog project will still carry its given ‘name,’ at least for now.

JC welcomes your feedback on either the process or on the evolution of her writing.

JC is delighted that the Alzheimer Society of Canada has included “What My Grandma Means to Say” on its list of resources to help children and families talk about dementia. Here’s the link to the Society’s listing: http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/Living-with-dementia/Staying-connected/Helping-children (see page 1 for the Discussion Guide and page 6 for the storybook.)
Recent appearances at local elementary schools on behalf of the Alzheimer Society of Lanark County (ASLC) gave hundreds of students the chance to talk about dementia in the context provided by JC’s reading of the play or the storybook. “These educational tools are effective because they are so child-centred,” JC emphasizes. “Many hands went up from among the 200 students at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Carleton Place when I asked whether anyone knew someone living with Alzheimer’s disease. These students raised excellent questions and greeted ASLC’s invitation to enter a contest to write a poem about dementia with real enthusiasm.”
“What My Grandma Means to Say” is all about bringing children into the dialogue about Alzheimer’s in a way that helps them build their understanding and strategies to handle whatever comes their way. With the Alzheimer Society of Canada’s listing, families, who could find “What My Grandma Means to Say” helpful, will now know how easy it is to access the material.
The Discussion Guide can be downloaded free from this website. The storybook is still available from General Store Publishing House (www.gsph.com) or from e-book retailers.