Prince Edward County to the southwest from the point

Category: Archive

  • 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.

  • Ottawa Poet Laureate selects “Mission Extended” for the I AM A HUMAN BEING Anthology

    JC Sulzenko’s five-line found poem, “Mission Extended,” appears in a new anthology edited and published by Ottawa’s English Poet Laureate.

    “I thank Albert Dumont for choosing this found poem for the anthology, launched in Ottawa on December 18, 2022. I am honoured that my work has gained a place in this fine collection.”

    JC writes found poetry and centos using the pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss. “Mission extended” uses words drawn unaltered from death notices and obituary articles published in the Toronto Globe and Mail on April 26, 2017.

    Here is how Albert Dumont describes the book:

    “I AM A HUMAN BEING is an anthology of poetic perspectives on the topics of love, death, support, honour and other emotions contained in the human heart. They are offered by established poets, by folks who dabble at poetic wordsmithing and by deep-thinking high school students from Ottawa schools. And may I proudly add, include 24 from the Kitigan Zibi School.”
    To purchase a copy of I AM A HUMAN BEING, go to his website : http://albertdumont.com/books/i-am-a-human-being/

    As he explains: “All proceeds generated from sales of this book will go towards promoting poetry as medicine, bringing healing to those finding themselves in emotional distress.”

  • The November 2022 THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC pairs JC Sulzenko’s poems with images by Georgia artist and writer Debbie Walker-Lass

    “Perchance to dream,” JC’s poem in response to “Amy and the Queen” by Atlanta artist Debbie Walker-Lass, appears in the November 2022 issue of the online literary journal, THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC.

    Walker-Lass’s image “Cherish Togetherness Forever,” responds to JC’s found poem, “Recovery efforts,” written under her pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss. The five-line poem draws words unaltered from one day’s obituary articles and death notices in the Toronto GLOBE AND MAIL.

    Here is the link to their collaboration: https://thelightekphrastic.com/walker-lass-sulzenko-november-2022/

    “I am grateful to Editor Jenny O’Grady’s for her choice of the artist with whose work I could interact and for this opportunity to be published in November’s THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC.

    “I revel in writing ekphrastic poems, which gives me both freedom to take an image to heart and respond to it without any restrictions on how, but also demands I respect my partner artist’s original creation.

    “Debbie and I chose not to discuss how we were approaching each other’s work while we were doing so. It is always a wonder to me when I first see the artist’s visual interpretation of my words. There is both suspense and mystery in the process.

    “I thank Debbie Walker-Lass for this collaboration–a unique experience which resonates deeply.”

    JC’s love for ekphrastic poetry isn’t new. She wrote for and curated poetry for the exhibition and chapbook Ekphrasis at Blizzmax Gallery, participated in the County CollAboRaTive exhibition and collector’s book, and co-authored a chapbook of collaborative ekphrastic poems, SLANT OF LIGHT, with Carol A. Stephen, with whom she has a full manuscript, BREATH OF SKY AND WATER, seeking a publisher.

    Most recently, her cento “Repeatedly, now in a dream,” was a finalist in The Poets Corner’s Ekphrastic Pairings: poetry, paintings and photography event. Here’s a link to that November 13 program from Maine: https://www.thepoetscorner.org/events/ekphrastic-pairings . JC’s reading as A. Garnett Weiss appears at around the 35-minute mark.

  • Garnett Weiss cento featured at The Poets Corner November 13 Ekphrastic Pairings: poetry, paintings & photography

    JC brought her cento “Repeatedly, now in dream” to The Poets Corner Ekphrastic Pairings online reading on November 13. This poem draws lines unaltered, apart from changes in punctuation for the sake of grammar, from a collection by Norman Dubie. She appeared in the second half of the program.

    One of 10 finalists selected by The Poets Corner in Maine, JC took delight in responding to the oil on paper work by Marc Hanson, entitled “Atmospheric, I.”

    JC writes centos and found poetry under the pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss.

    Here’s the link to the recording of the event:
    https://www.thepoetscorner.org/events/ekphrastic-pairings

    Here’s the link to the exhibition at the Page Gallery in Camden, Maine, where Marc Hanson’s work is on display. An in-person get-together, in which the artists exhibiting at the Gallery choose to read a poem from among those submitted, will take place on November 19, 2022.

    https://www.thepagegallery.com/exhibition/ekphrastic-pairings/artwork

  • Garnett Weiss poem as preface to papers published on the theme of (Legal) Adaptation at the Dean Maxwell and Isle Cohen Seminar in International Law within McGill University’s Graduate Law Student Association 2022 Conference

    JC was delighted to craft a found poem to preface research papers originally presented in May at McGill University as part of the Dean Maxwell and Isle Cohen Seminar in International Law. She attended the program virtually.

    Writing as A. Garnett Weiss, the pseudonym JC uses for found poetry and her celebrated centos, the poem draws individual words and phrases unaltered from two papers which appear in Volume 2 of the research studies, just published.

    Here’s a link to “A form of transparency”: https://glsars.library.mcgill.ca/article/view/250/235

    JC’s family established the Seminar to honour the many contributions of her parents to McGill’s Faculty of Law where her father taught and served as Dean.

    “I thank the Graduate Law Student Association and particularly outgoing VP Academic Sandrine Ampleman-Tremblay and the co-editors of the research series for their work related to the Cohen Seminar,” JC concluded.

  • A Group of 7: JC Sulzenko read with Ottawa Poets on October 17 at Perfect Books, Ottawa

    In spite of the rain, 7 intrepid Ottawa poets read from their recent poetry collections published by Thornhill’s Aeolus House.

    The one-hour event took place at Perfect Books with an enthusiastic audience of poets and poetry-lovers.

    Participating authors were: Miller Adams, Mary Lee Bragg, Brian Cameron, Blaine Marchand, Colin Morton, Claudia Coutu Radmore, and JC, writing as A. Garnett Weiss.

    Copies of their collections are available from the bookstore at: 613 231 6468. Many thanks to Jim and Conyer at Perfect Books for the warm welcome and the great space.

  • JC read at Aeolus House Poetry Event in Toronto at the Supermarket on September 25, 2022

    JC was very pleased that publisher Allan Briesmaster invited her to read from BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS at the book launch he hosted. She read selections from her collection, published in 2021 and a finalist for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award from the Canadian Authors Association. She also read “I didn’t know what to do,” the cento she composed by reusing lines from BRICOLAGE, in memoriam the child victims of Kamloops Residential School as the September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approached.

    Aeolus House published JC’s collection of centos in July 2021 under her pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss. The book was among five finalists for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award from the Canadian Authors Association.

    The event launched new poetry collections from Kent Bowman, Peter Jailall, Mori McCrae, and Daniel G Scott.

    “I was honoured to appear on the bill with these fine poets and to celebrate the launch of their new books,” JC explained. Books will be available for purchase at the site. BRICOLAGE also can be ordered directly from bricolage.weiss@gmail.com

  • JC opposed to the Griffin Poetry Prize elimination of a Canadian category

    The GLOBE AND MAIL published JC’s letter to the Editor on September 13. She noted that the paper chose to include several letters pro the merger of the prize categories from two into a single English category and only one letter con, hers.

    Here’s the link to the Letters page. The text, as published, follows below.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/letters/article-i-hope-that-those-who-voted-for-pierre-poilievre-will-enjoy-a

    I am a longtime fan of the Griffin Poetry Prize’s Canadian and international categories. To posit that Canadians are up to competing with every poet writing in or translated into English seems more smokescreen than credible rationale for a single category.

    It suggests to me that the prize process to date has coddled Canadian poets, which does them a great disservice. Their achievements in even getting published, within our country’s climate of diminishing publishing houses, restrictive retailers and flavours of the month, should be celebrated and championed at every opportunity.

    I regret this decision to build up an already generous prize so that, in the end, the prize itself wins more profile on the international stage.

  • JC’s THE MAGNOLIA THIEF had its premiere at the Puppets Up! International Festival

    The Puppets Up! International Festival returned to Almonte August 12-14 and JC’s story played a part in it.

    Students from Almonte schools under Jenny Sheffield’s direction performed THE MAGNOLIA THIEF along a tree-lined path, an “alameda,” on both Saturday and Sunday. JC narrated the voiceover.

    “I am honoured that this year’s Festival staged THE MAGNOLIA THIEF, a very urban fairy tale. Having local students as the performers added to the delight. My thanks go to the festival’s Artistic Director Noreen Young for this opportunity.”

    Written for young children and families, THE MAGNOLIA THIEF was inspired by JC’s love for the Saucer Magnolia in her backyard. “The magnolia began as a shrub, a gift for Mothers’ Day when our children were small. It now measures about 40 by 40 feet. I wrote the story in rhyme as a way to honour the tree and acknowledge the pleasure its blossoms give each spring.”

    This year’s Festival lineup featured performances by troupes and puppeteers from Ontario, Quebec, Indonesia, Iceland and the US, including The Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers, Tanglewood Marionettes and Joshua Holden.