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Check out JC’s mini review of Margaret Atwood’s BOOK OF LIVES: A MEMOIR OF SORTS. She gives it a 9/10 rating.

JC delighted in the opportunity to participate in this show of exceptional work by photographers who are members of the Heliconian Club in Toronto.

“I welcomed the chance to write ekphrastic poetry, poems inspired by other forms of artistic expression. I felt honoured that my poems were part of this show. Its opening reception included two sets of performances, readings, and artist commentary on Saturday afternoon, October 4. “

JC looks forward to participating in the 2026 photography show. 2026 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Heliconian Club. Check the Club’s posts and website for the celebrations planned.

JC was delighted to participate in this exhibition of evocative paintings by Prince Edward County visual artist Karole Marois. The show ran in the Royal Annex from September 6-28.

“I embraced this opportunity to contribute two poems to Karole’s show on the theme: “The Power of Water,” which showcased her unique vision of this element essential to life and to spirit,” JC announced. “I thank her for the honour of displaying my work alongside her memorable canvasses.”

Here’s a link to Chris Fanning’s review in the Picton Gazette:
https://pictongazette.ca/post/ekphrasis-on-ross-street

Here’s a link to the artist’s site: https://karolem.com

“I was delighted to appear on Thursday, July 17 with my most recent poetry collections, written under my pen name A. Garnett Weiss. Poems from Life after Life—from epitaph to epilogue took centre stage during my presentation. I also read from Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos, which was one of five finalists for the 2022 national Fred Kerner Book Award from the Canadian Authors Association, “ JC revealed.

“I was honoured to read at this fine series. I hope I was able to convince those in attendance that found poetry is ‘no second-class citizen’ but rather worthy of their attention.”

“While in town, I visited the site in a glorious lake-side park where my poem “Chrysalis” ‘ is among nature poems etched into a tabletop’s wood as part of the Picnic Table Anthology project. POETCHRY is a first for me!” 

JC thanked poetry convenor James Pickersgill for inviting her to Cobourg and Kate Rogers who curated the poetry for the nature table.

Here’s a link to the announcement of funds granted to arts organizations after an adjudication process under the auspices of the County Foundation in which JC participated.

https://www.countylive.ca/local-arts-organizations-share-60k-in-grants/

“I have not been involved in a such process before, whereby grants are awarded by assessing the relative strengths and merits of proposals against criteria which governed the selection.

I was very pleased to have the opportunity to meet with other adjudicators and consider many worthy projects which exceeded in amounts requested the funding available from the inaugural year for the Arts Fund. Given that Prince Edward County has one of the highest concentration of writers, artists and artisans in all of Ontario, every investment the municipality makes in the cultural sector generates not only more creativity but also brings economic and other benefits to the region,” JC noted.

JC thanks Silver Birch Press Editor Melanie Villines for publishing her free verse poem, “A ritual in five time.” 

“I am honoured that this poem appears in the California press’s newest series, My Favourite Things. The Press has published my poems a number of times, for which I am grateful.”

“This poem takes its point of departure from the turbulence of the times and suggests a way to find calm,” JC explained.  “In reciting a selection of five favourite things, a different quintet each night after turning out the light, I focus on what I love and find I am able to sleep. Editor Villines chose a perfect image to complement the piece— squares of chocolate!”

“Try the method. It works!” JC advises.

Here’s a link to the poem: 
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2025/07/07/a-ritual-in-five-time-by-jc-sulzenko-my-favorite-thngs-series/

THEMA LITERARY MAGAZINE’s summer 2025 issue features JC poem, “Gridlock.”

JC thanks editor Virginia Howard for including her work on the theme of “a new routine.”

“This narrative poem represents a hybrid experience, combining imagined and semi-autobiographical elements when I moved from Canada’s capital to its largest city. Will readers be able to distinguish the ‘fiction’ from the fact?” JC wondered. Here’s the link to that piece:

https://themaliterarysociety.com/issues/NEW%20ROUTINE.htm

(About THEMA from its website:  the journal “has three goals. One is to provide a stimulating forum for established and emerging literary and visual artists. The second is to serve as source material and inspiration for teachers of creative writing. The third is to provide readers with a unique and entertaining collection of stories, poems, art, and photography.)

JC is delighted that “Chrysalis,” a found poem written under her pen name A. Garnett Weiss, is now etched onto a picnic tabletop in beautiful downtown Cobourg, Ontario.

“Chrysalis” appears on the table dedicated to nature poems. It adds to her series of poems using words and phrases drawn from obituaries published in the GLOBE AND MAIL. Her first collection of such 5-line poems, LIFE AFTER LIFE—FROM EPITAPH TO EPILOGUE, published by Aeolus House in 2024.

“Canada Day marked the unveiling of this table. I haven’t yet seen the poem in place but will when I give a reading in Cobourg on July 17 at the Thursday Reading Series. I look forward to this ‘first’ for me and my work. I thank the editors for including my poem,” JC added.

Here’s the story about the project:

Grand Unveiling of “Picnic on Poetry in Cobourg on Friday

I admit I came to enjoy this easy read. The exploration of a marriage on hiatus and how that break affects the couple individually, their extended family, plus their network of friends, is both contemporary and relevant. The Irish setting with regular spells in London pleased me, as did the scope the novelist gave the minor characters. RATING: 6.5/10

For the full review and spoilers, click here.

Wisdom

This found poem uses words or phrases drawn unaltered from death notices published in the January 23, 2023, Toronto Globe and Mail. It appears first in the poetry collection,  Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue,  by A. Garnett Weiss (Aeolus House, 2024). JC writes found poems and centos using that pseudonym.