Category: Archive

FRAMED & FAMILIAR: 101 PORTRAITS, is an international anthology of poetry and photography just published as an e-book by Hidden Brooks Press.

The collection features two of JC’s poems. Here’s a link to the book and to her poems:
“Long playing” (page 174) and “Self, imagery” (page 175.)

https://issuu.com/richardgrove1/stacks/40131a9b3e1d42b8b4a0b829dc08ec2e

“I am delighted that Poetry Editor Antony Di Nardo chose to include my work in this stunning anthology. Among such fine words and images, my poems are in good company, indeed,” JC noted.

JC’s memory of a dream prompted her to write “Sleep, hiding” which is rooted in her experience during the first year of the pandemic. She is delighted that Public Poetry (Houston, Texas) and Director Fran Sanders chose this poem as a finalist and included it in PANDEMIC POEMS, their new anthology, now available for purchase.

Public Poetry hosted a lively online launch featuring several poets reading from the new anthology on July 7, 2022.

“What struck me is how amazing it is to be ‘in the room’ with poets and poetry lovers from across the United States, to have the opportunity to hear the poems featured in Public Poetry’s new anthology read aloud, and also to share with that community thoughts and work that are memorable.”

JC was happy to receive comments and feedback on her use of the cento form after she read her cento in memoriam Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as her second poem of the evening.

Here’s the link for a way to purchase Public Poetry’s new collection:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1087992478/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&psc=1

BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, is JC’s most recent poetry book, published by Aeolus House in 2021 under her pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss. The collection was a finalist for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award from the Canadian Authors Association. https://canadianauthors.org/national/fred-kerner-book-awards-2022-winner-and-shortlist/

Copies of BRICOLAGE are available from Octopus Books (Ottawa, Ontario), Books & Company (Picton, Ontario) and from bricolage.weiss@gmail.com

JC congratulated Catherine Graham (winner) and and Susan Olding (Honourable Mention) who took home top awards in the Canadian Author Association’s (CAA) Fred Kerner Book Award Contest.

She feels honoured to have had her collection of centos, BRICOLAGE, among five finalists for this national prize. Aeolus House published BRICOLAGE in 2021 under her pseudonym, A. Garnett Weiss.

Here’s a link to the June 18 announcement from the CAA :
https://canadianauthors.org/national/fred-kerner-book-awards-2022-winner-and-shortlist/

The judges’ wrote about BRICOLAGE in this way:

“A paean to the intoxicating power of not only the written word, but also of “borrowed” words, Bricolage is a singular triumph of centos—new poems created from other poets’ verse. Written over the course of a decade, these affecting, absorbing homages are a double-delight: first as cerebral, many-layered musings on both the fragility and resiliency of the human condition astride space and time, and second as a chance to honour the brilliance of the original works.”

In thanking the judges for placing BRICOLAGE on the short list, JC welcomed their generous comments about the poems in this gathering of centos. “BRICOLAGE remains in very fine company on the shortlist.” JC also thanked the CAA for the way in which the organization nourishes its members.

The Fred Kerner Book Award is awarded annually to a Canadian Author Association member who has the best overall book published in the previous calendar year–whether fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Fred Kerner was a devoted and long-time CAA member, an author, journalist, editor, teacher, and mentor.

Copies of BRICOLAGE can be obtained from bricolage.weiss@gmail.com, Books & Company (Picton, Ontario), and Octopus Books (Ottawa).

Poetry Super Highway Editor and Publisher Rick Lupert released the 24th annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) issue for Thursday, April 28.

JC is honoured to have her poem “Panorama” appear in the issue which features the work of 104 poets from around the world. “Panorama” first appeared in the Canadian Jewish News and then in JC’s debut poetry collection, SOUTH SHORE SUITE…POEMS from Point Petre Publishing in 2017.

Here is the link to access this special issue on the Poetry Super Highway site: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/24th-annual-yom-hashoah-holocaust-remembrance-day-poetry-issue/

Host Lynn Pickering embraces National Poetry Month by dedicating the April 10 broadcast of THE COUNTY WRITES…THE COUNTY READS to that celebration with a fine lineup of poets, including JC.

The program includes a segment originally taped around the launch of JC’s collection of centos, BRICOLAGE, written under her pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss. JC invites listeners to a poetry reading on the theme of Intimacy and Hope. Convened by publisher Allan Briesmaster, the event will feature eight poets published by his Aeolus House. To receive an invitation to the live-streamed April 25 event at 7:30 PM EDT, just email allan@aeolushouse.com.

Here’s a link the radio station’s post with information on the show tomorrow. Tune in and hear local poets and personalities read Purdy and their own poetry. The program begins after the noon news and runs until 1:00 PM EDT.

https://www.facebook.com/993CountyFM

Publisher Allan Briesmaster of Aeolus House welcomed a great audience to hear eight authors read from their recent books of poetry. JC, reading as A. Garnett Weiss, the pseudonym she uses for centos and other found poetry, chose 4 poems from BRICOLAGE and unveiled 3 centos written since the collection came out last summer. Many people stayed for the lively question-and-answer session which ended the evening.

“It was both an honour and a privilege for me to participate in this National Poetry Month celebration of fine poetry. I am grateful to Allan and to the League of Canadian Poets for making the event possible. I was delighted with how many of my friends and colleagues were able to attend. Great to ‘see’ them there.”

Signed copies of BRICOLAGE at $18 each are available from: bricolage.weiss@gmail.com, and from Octopus Books in Ottawa, octopusbooks.ca and Books and Company in Picton, www.pictonbookstore.com

JC Sulzenko is delighted that California-based Silver Birch Press chose her poem as a New Year’s Eve toast in its current series on Thoughts About the Earth/Healing the Earth. Here’s the link to the post:

https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2021/12/31/splendid-terms-by-a-garnett-weiss-thoughts-about-the-earth-series/

Written under JC’s pseudonym, A. Garnett Weiss, the poem draws individual words from death notices and obituary articles which appeared in the April 20, 2017, Toronto GLOBE AND MAIL. The piece is one of a full collection of such five-line poems now in development. “Splendid terms” also featured in the Poetry Leaves 2020 project (Waterford Township Public Library).

BOXING DAY COLOURS

Three black pigeons found solace

in the too-warm puddles

They alone had not dreamt of a white Christmas

Did not regret the grim, gray slush

that bequeathed lines of salt to new leather boots

still stiff from packages, now crushed and

stuffed along with blue reindeer wrapping

and rivers of silver ribbon

into bulging green garbage bags

at the curb

of a new year

On October 15, JC and colleague Blaine Marchand gave a by-invitation, in-person reading from their new poetry collections for friends under the canopy at the most hospitable winery in Prince Edward County, Half Moon Bay Winery.

This event followed Aeolus House’s virtual launch of JC’s book of centos, BRICOLAGE, and Blaine’s BECOMING HISTORY on Thursday, September 23 before some 100 viewers.

“It’s a real pleasure to read aloud in front of people whose reactions are immediate and true rather than confined to the small screen,” JC observed.

On each occasion, JC read more than a dozen poems, including one cento that reuses lines from various poems in BRICOLAGE in memoriam the child victims of residential schools. “I didn’t know what to do” will remain unpublished as a one-time only cento of centos,” JC stated.

BRICOLAGE comes out under JC’s pseudonym, A. Garnett Weiss, adopted to give her distance from her lyric or narrative work.

JC admitted that gathering her centos into a volume proved challenging but also brought joy. She thanked poets Olive Senior, Keith Garebian and Gregory Betts for providing the fine comments which appear on the book’s back cover. She also acknowledged how grateful she is to fine artist Diana Gubbay for allowing her stunning “Cathedral Forest” collage to grace the book’s front cover. Here’s a link to Ms. Gubbay’s website: https://www.dianagubbay.com

“I thank Allan Briesmaster for publishing BRICOLAGE. It was an honour to share the programs with Blaine Marchand.”

To order BRICOLAGE for $18 plus shipping and handling, please email bricolage.weiss@gmail.com.

Copies of the book also can be purchased from Books & Company in Picton, Ontario, or from Octopus Books in Ottawa, Ontario .

Here’s the link to JC’s poem, “How to find your voice,” in the current series offered by California-based Silver Birch Press (SBP).

How to find your voice by JC Sulzenko (HOW TO Series)

“I took a quasi prose poem approach in this topic,” JC explained. “I love singing and had confidence in my strong voice and ability to sing on key. It came as a nasty surprise when I heard a melody in my head but couldn’t get the song out.

“This SBP series offered me the ideal opportunity to look at why and how I had come to this tuneless place. And to share how I dealt with it.

“Joining an online chapter of the choir Shout Sister gives me the chance to rediscover what I had mislaid. Even when we can return to in person practices, I hope virtual, weekly sessions will continue. I’m loving every moment.

“Thank you, SBP Editor Melanie Villines for featuring “How to find your voice” in this eclectic series and for selecting the beautiful Mary Cassatt portrait to accompany its publication.”