Category: Archive

I did not know what to do

                                

Let us stand here and admit we have no road,

though what we say can cover truth

beneath the bitter ground this year—

the past itself disgraced by the ferocity of the new

edges curling with blasphemy and blame—

oppression which preceded history.

Vigilant in anguish and unattended grief,

my own heart and I catch my breath in pain,

now ululate in deep despair,

in deep apology,

lonely for something, nameless as they had been

like shades of broken stars.

               Cento gloss

                Title: Olena Kalytiak Davis, “On the Certainty of Bryan”

                Line 1: William Empson, “Homage to The British Museum”

                Line 2: Fred Cogswell, “Black and White”

                Line 3: Susan Hahn, “January Ovaries”

                Line 4: Campbell McGrath, “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool/The Founding of Brasilia (1950)”

                 Line 5: Molly Peacock, “Blasphemy & Blame”

                 Line 6: Richard Greene, “Independence”

                 Line 7: Gloria Burgess, “Blessing the Lepers”

                 Line 8: Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, “The Race”

                 Line 9: John Whitworth, “The Room under the Eaves”

                 Line 10: E. J. Pratt, “Come Away, Death”

                 Line 11: Claudia Emerson, “Cyst”

                 Line 12: Elliot Fried, “Daily I Fall in Love with Waitresses”

                (Lines drawn unaltered from Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos by A. Garnett  Weiss)

Editors Stacy Russo and Julie Artman of Wild Librarian Press (Santa Ana, California) offer a new  anthology of poetry and stories worth savouring. Just published ‘WILD CRONE WISDOM, POETRY AND STORIES” embraces poetry of depth and character. In pushing aside the negativity surrounding the term, ‘crone,’  the editors created a collection that embraces crones, women in old(er) age  with “…complexity, ambiguity, and the wisdom found in the dark and light” their stage of  life brings.

In the prose poem, “I wear scars on the inside,”  JC pulls no punches in revealing as much about herself as she does the subjects of her observations — women in a changing room at a local pool after an aquafit workout. “Do-si-do,” is a dance of sorts between the poet, a long-time friend of an artist now in decline, and the artist herself, who no longer remembers their relationship.

On October 28, most of the contributors to the collection were on hand for a reading on Zoom. “Having heard these fine writers read their own work added so much to my appreciation of the anthology. I am honoured that my poems appear  in this fine anthology, “JC noted. Contributors include poets and authors writing in Canada, the  US, France, and India. JC appears to be one of two Canadians in the mix. Copies are available from https://bookshop.org/p/books/wild-crone-wisdom-poetry-and-stories-stacy-russo/20514200?ean=9781737675938.

For information on the press, please go to: https://www.wildlibrarianpress.com

In its new anthology Simple Simons Press published “Time in the hourless houses,” a cento by A. Garnett Weiss. This found poem also features in BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, JC’s collection from Aeolus House (2021.) JC, writing as A. Garnett Weiss, is the sole Canadian whose work appears in the slim volume.

This piece, the only found poem in the anthology, draws lines or partial lines unaltered except for changes in punctuation for the sake of grammar, from TWELVE MODERN POETS, the Continental Book Company AB, edited by Arthur Lundkvist (1946.) Among the luminaries whose lines make up the new poem are Dylan Thomas, T. S. Elliot, Stephen Spender, W. H. Auden, and Ezra Pound. George Baker’s words from “Sacred Elegies, Elegy 1” provide the 10th line for her poem: “I see tomorrow grow a tree of hope.”

“What intrigues me about this book is the eclectic nature of the selections editor J.R. Simons has made and how JR chose to array these offerings, from free verse to sonnets and haiku. Once again, I find my work in fine company,” JC noted. Here’s a link to the publisher’s site: https://www.simple-simons-press.com/simple-simons-press-poetry

Copies of HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL can be ordered this way: https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Springs-Eternal-Anthology-Introduction/dp/B0CC4G1HNR?crid=L4TC940FMSL6&keywords=hope+springs+eternal&qid=1690289202&sprefix=hope+springs+eter,aps,220&sr=8-16&linkCode=sl1&tag=simplesimonsv-20&linkId=438c0de956e03e600b76061d82631664&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

 

Join JC over the weekend of October 14 and 15 to explore collage and found poetry and the dialogue between the two as part of the offerings from the The Prince Edward County Arts Council at the Armoury in Picton, Ontario.

Each afternoon, participants will delve into their personal experience and how that relates to spaces between, for example:

–seasons, when autumn gives way to winter;

–people or places, when leaving gives way to remembering;

–objects, where one treasure is lost and can or cannot be replaced.

On Day 1, participants will deep-dive and create a visioning board collage which gives expression to their thoughts. On Day 2,  they’ll use magazine, newspaper, and other text sources to write found poems arising from their collage. Sharing and showcasing their work in the group and beyond the workshop will also be discussed.

The workshop will appeal to everyone, regardless of their writing or art-related backgrounds, with an interest in exploring relationships between visual art and self-reflection and in finding the poetry there.  All materials will be provided.

Here’s a link to register for the program. https://countyarts.regfox.com/between-beauty-and-loss-with-jc-sulzenko

Here’s the text of my letter, unaltered from what I submitted, regarding this article — “Canadian writers can’t afford to write non-fiction anymore – and that’s a problem for all of us” (Arts & Books, Aug. 12):

I appreciate contributor Charlotte Gray’s considered analysis of the woeful state of Canadian non-fiction publishing and, in particular, the lack of support for writing about Canadian history.

But if, as Plato observed, “poetry is nearer to vital truth than history,” then the shortcomings of our publishers and policies apply tenfold to poets and poetry. In a U.S.-dominated and globalized marketplace, we risk losing our soul without access to these words.

JC returns to Blizzmax Gallery 3071 County Road 13 with 3 poems as part of an afternoon of 5-minute readings by Prince Edward County writers.  Organizers Nora-Lyn Veevers and Jane Macdonald invited local authors to tell a story in very short segments in what is an intimate and unique space.

Alice Mennecher is well known for the Gallery’s support of artists and writers in the County. “The Gallery provides a perfect setting for what promises to be an eclectic program,” JC noted.

Among featured readers are winners of the County Arts’s annual Wind & Water Writing Contests. JC’s centos, poems which use lines unaltered from the work of other poets with full attribution as to the sources of the lines,  took first place in the contest’s inaugural year, 2019, and again in 2023.

Signed copies of the collections featuring JC’s poetry — BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, and SOUTH SHORE SUITE…POEMS — will be available for sale at the event.

Invited to participate in an afternoon of 5-minute readings, JC began her segment of the program with one long poem, a triptych that captures three facets of her experience during a winter escape to South Carolina before the pandemic.

“I loved the idea of short readings on a summer’s day. Choosing which snippets of writing to share in just a few minutes in a line-up of fine Prince Edward County writers was a challenge, though,” JC admitted.

Organizers Nora-Lyn Veevers and Jane Macdonald selected local authors to participate in the event which was held on July 15 at Blizzmax Gallery,  3071 County Road 13. A second round will take place on  Saturday, August 19, at 3:00 PM.

Among readers were winners of the County Arts annual Wind & Water Writing Contests. JC’s centos took first place in the contest’s inaugural year, 2019, and again in 2023.

“I also read the winning cento from this year’s contest, which had connection as its theme: “For our many moods, there is nothing like a lantern.”

Copies of JC’s books — BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, SOUTH SHORE SUITE…POEMS, and TALES ON THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, which contains the triptych– will be available for sale at the event.

 

 

 

 

JC is delighted that three of her poems appear in the 2023 Tales on the Yellow Brick Road anthology just launched by Yellow Brick Road Publishing of Beaufort, South Carolina.

Here’s a link to the story on this new collection of poetry and prose, which appears in the current issue of Your Island News: https://yourislandnews.com/ybr-anthology-tales-on-the-yellow-brick-road-to-hit-beaufort-bookstore/

The free-verse poems chosen by Publisher Jack Gannon are unrelated to each other thematically. Mens rea takes on the concept of criminal intent in a quasi light-handed way. Long after Dorothy, a memory piece not written specifically for the anthology, contains coincidentally the lines “Now she’s dead at fifty-five. Again to my surprise,/ I miss the yellow brick road of our childhood.” Southern triptych distills a holiday experience into a trio of poems. “I was delighted to see this poem in the collection, given that it pulls no punches and captures and contrasts genteel city squares in Savannah with the history of racism and slavery.”

Copies of Tales on the Yellow Brick Road are available from JC through this website, from the publisher (https://www.ybrpub.com/product-page/tales-on-the-yellow-brick-road-2023), and on Amazon. (https://www.amazon.ca/Tales-Yellow-Brick-Road-2023/dp/B0C4QLNHWD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2BEQRCZSD6JBI&keywords=Tales+from+the+yellow+brick+road&qid=1686240744&sprefix=tales+from+the+yellow+brick+road%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1)

JC thanked the judges and convenors of the Prince Edward County Arts Council’s Annual Wind and Water Writing Contest for selecting her cento as the winning poetry entry.

The cento “For our many moods, there is nothing like a lantern” uses lines drawn unaltered apart for reasons of punctuation from individual poems by 9 different poets in The Next Wave, An Anthology of 21^st Century Canadian Poetry, Jim Johnstone, Editor, Palimpsest Press, 2018.

Here’s what the judges had to say about the poem: “This cento captured this year’s theme in both form and content, offering a moving depiction of the poetic ties that connect one person to another.”

The year contest this year attracted the highest number of entries since the competition was established by the Arts Council in 2019. JC’s cento won the inaugural contest that year.

JC saluted each of the writers and poets who shared their fine work this way. Here’s a link to reading the winning entries and honourable mentions: https://countyarts.ca/wind-water-writing-contest/