JC reviews two recent reads.
Go to Bookends on this site to find her ratings of a book that’s hard to typecast: “World of Wonders: In praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments,” written by Aimee Nezhukumatathil and illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, 2020.
The second review JC shares focuses on a very Canadian novel written in 1973, that still resonated with her: “The Book of Eve” by Constance Beresford-Howe.
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 thanks ARTSCENE host Sarah Moran for inviting her to participate in the discussion on June 2 of winning entries in the 2023 Wind & Water Writing Contest, the 5th such competition sponsored by County Arts in Prince Edward County.
JC, writing as A. Garnett Weiss, won first prize for her cento, “For our many moods, there is nothing like a lantern.” Taking part in the conversation about the contest and sharing thoughts about why and how they write were contest Judges Leigh Nash and Andrew Faulkner and prose winner Dawn Miller.
Copies of Weiss’s collection, BRICOLAGE, A GATHERING OF CENTOS, a finalist for the 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award (Canadian Authors Association), are available from Books & Company in Picton and at the Prince Edward County Municipal Library.
Editor Rick Lupert has assembled a collection of memorable poems from writers around the world to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
This is not an easy collection to read, but it is a courageous one. These poems and poets make unavoidable and important the act of remembering the scale of inhumanity of a nation driven to cruelty and crimes against a people because of their religious beliefs.
In a world where disinformation and misinformation have become rife, this stark reminder becomes more important each year in combatting revisionist history and ignorance.
JC thanks Poetry Super Highway for including the five-line poem, “Forced Journey,” in the 2023 issue. This found poem draws words or phrases unaltered from one day’s death notices published in the Toronto Globe and Mail. JC writes found poetry and centos under the name, A. Garnett Weiss. Here’s a link to the piece:
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
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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.
For kids of many generations, Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene hooked them on reading. Whenever a new book came out, the local bookstore (and there were several independent! bookstores in my neighbourhood!) would sell out very quickly, as young readers couldn’t wait fo the puzzle their favourite sleuth would unravel.
Garnett is pleased that Silver Birch Press of California chose her erasure poem “With original mystery” for the anthology, published on October 1. This poem extracts words from titles of Nancy Drew books in the order they appeared on the the page preceding the inside title page of “The Hidden Staircase,” published in 1930 and reprinted in 1995. The poem and the page showing the erasure appear in the collection.
Copies of the anthology will be available through the publisher and from Amazon.com. The publisher’s price per volume is $15. Here’s the link to Silver Birch Press’s release:
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2016/10/02/new-release-nancy-drew-anthology/
Garnett’s second poem arising from Nancy Drew sources will be posted on her own website. “Siren” This uses bon-contiguous phrases, taken unaltered from”Nancy Drew: The Secret of Mirror Bay,” published in 1972.
JC is delighted “Scales” received an Honorable Mention and will appear in the upcoming “Loves Lies Bleeding” anthology from The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS).
“I have found it difficult to sustain my equilibrium and my writing practice during the pandemic years and the upheavals in Canada and elsewhere. Although the poem begins with a dream, it moves on from that experience to my everyday reality: how current events weigh upon me in a debilitating way and force me to create a refuge of sorts,” JC explained.
“I thank the judges and TOPS for including “Scales” in the anthology and for giving the poem this award.”
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
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.
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:
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
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).
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2021/03/31/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.”
Here’s the link to the art show which launched today on Facebook. Once there, please click ‘discussion’ to access the works of art and commentary.
https://www.facebook.com/events/435477617556915
JC is one of 15 artists and writers contributing to this virtual show. The project, sponsored by the Prince Edward County Arts Council and the Community Care for Seniors Association, paired each participating artist with a local senior and encouraged them to hold up to five conversations. From that shared experience, the artists and writers produced a work drawing on what they learned about and from each other.
“Our telephone conversations took us to Waupoos Island, where my almost 100 year-old partner was born, and around the County as we talked about ancestors and landscape, family and friends, food and history.
“It was a delight to meet Catherine, even if only over the phone, and to find out how we shared a love of poetry and particularly the words of Al Purdy. Together, we read “In search of Owen Roblin” aloud and from that exchange came my cento, in honour of Al and of Catherine.”
Writing as A. Garnett Weiss, the pseudonym JC uses when she writes centos and found poetry, JC chose lines from Purdy’s long poem for her cento, “I am a screen through which the world passes.” JC thanked Martin Soldat for his advice about arraying the poem.
“My part in this innovative program connecting people during the pandemic brought me great joy. I am grateful to the organizers for giving me this unique opportunity.”
The show runs for two weeks. Please offer comments on the FB post about what you read and see.
Writing as A. Garnett Weiss, JC was delighted to contribute her cento, “How the voices of light enter the body,” to the tribute video assembled for the former US Poet Laureate’s 80th birthday, March 22. The poem draws lines unaltered, apart for purposes of grammar or punctuation, from Billy’s collection, “Sailing Alone Around the Room.” Here’s the link to her reading you can cut and paste into your browser:
https://www.tribute.co/american-poet-billy-collins/?video=3c7d4c9b-fa77-c03a-3217-0858e707e029
Billy and his spouse have brought his poetry and his thoughts about poetry to a regular audience of almost 400 for a half-hour, 5 nights a week during the last year.
“These poetry broadcasts offered regular followers, including me, a looked-forward-to, late afternoon gift—respite from the tribulations of the day. Billy’s unique voice capturing experience in an accessible and eloquent way, delivered without pretense in the surprising intimacy of his home, gave me such a boost. Every day!
“Here’s wishing Billy and his family good health and happiness for many, many, many years to come.”
Poetry Quarter (PQ) in the January/February Glebe Report published today features poems by eight local poets on the theme of “It Could Happen to You.”
Here’s the link to the paper
https://www.glebereport.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GR_Jan_February-12-2021_WEB.pdf
Scroll to page 24 for the poems JC selected for this issue and to see the submission call for the next PQ. The theme for May is tied to the sense of Spring–what it feels like: deliverance, relief, asylum and safety or the opposite. The deadline is April 26.
JC writes found poetry and centos using her pseudonym, A. Garnett Weiss. “I decided to make a distinction between these found poems, particularly centos, and what I write of a narrative or lyric nature, which I sign with my own name. For me, the process of composing a cento, for example, is completely different from how I approach a free verse poem. By using my pseudonym, I gained the independence I needed to move forward with found poetry.
Given the cacophony of political rhetoric these days, JC offers “Loose in the cathedral.” This five-line piece uses individual words drawn from death notices and obituary articles published in the Toronto Globe and Mail on April 17, 2017. It first appeared on JC’s Facebook page in 2018 in response to US writer Anne Lamott. Her collection of such poems is making the rounds of publishers.
Loose in the Cathedral
Privileged to know
someone else’s pain,
grieving for an approachable place,
an open door around the world,
the degree of vitriol and hate defrocked.
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
JC thanks Editor Jenny O’Grady for pairing her with Ron Tobey and for publishing her two poems, “Luck. Now” and “From Sea to Sea.”
“I am grateful that my work has been favoured a number of times by The Light Ekphrastic (TLE) and that these poems appear during the Journal’s 10th anniversary year.”
Here is the link to their ekphrastic collaboration to paste into your browser: https://thelightekphrastic.com/tobey-sulzenko-november-2020/
“I take joy in writing poetry inspired by works of art and in what is unique about the TLE process. Each artist and poet pair chosen by the Editor receives several offerings from his or her ‘Artner’ from which to select one as the focus of new work.
“For the first time in writing such poems, I received videos, one of which included the voiceover by the videographer-poet. I hesitated. Accustomed to working from a still image or an object, I couldn’t see a way in, particularly because I didn’t want my work to be influenced by Ron Tobey’s words.
“I chose “Days Rise” and received permission from Ron to mute his poem so that I could concentrate upon images in the video. I asked him questions in an exchange of emails before I began to fashion “Luck. Now.” Only after I had completed the poem and sent it to TLE did I allow myself to listen to Ron read.
“After that, I waited to share “Luck. Now.” with Ron until he had submitted his piece in response to my poem, “From Sea to Sea.” While he chose to wait to read “Luck. Now” until when our work would be published, I couldn’t resist watching “Open your Eye” immediately.
“I remain spellbound by the synchronicity between “Luck. Now” and “Open Your Eye.” Each of us, responding to a different work of art by the other, came independently to an alignment that is nothing short of a wonder to me. Ron’s serendipitous choice of the title for his video and the wording of my last stanza in “Luck. Now” provide one example.
“Open Your Eye” misses none of the oceanic emotions embodied in “From Sea to Sea,” right from the video’s first sequences, staccato images and spectral footsteps. In my comments to Ron, I welcomed how the video moves from stark portrayals of loss into sunlight that streams around the construction of a new home in a landscape that welcomes two young people into its embrace.
“My participation in this ekphrastic collaboration has been a privilege and enriched my writing life,” JC concluded.
For information on imagistic poet Ron Tobey: https://vimeo.com/userturin
This new, online series from California-based Silver Birch Press gave JC the opportunity to write about someone she met in the context of restrictions imposed by the pandemic who is, in his unique way, a prime mover among ‘front line’ workers. She is grateful to SBP for favouring her work with publication.
Embarrassed about the boxes of wine bottles accumulated while recycling options were unavailable, JC learned about David and his family’s novel approach to raising funds for his favourite charities.They come to the house, take away the bottles, and donate the proceeds from the returns. David’s mother, enthusiastic and warmhearted, shared his story and championed her son’s services, with emphasis on his abilities and commitment.
In “Ode to a wine-lover’s friend” JC captured the moment of their meeting and this young man’s positive disposition. She hopes David and his family will welcome the tribute.
Here is a link to the poem to cut and paste into your browser:
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2020/09/06/ode-to-a-wine-lovers-friend-by-jc-sulzenko-prime-movers-series/
JC is delighted that California-based Silver Birch Press has featured her poem about the Grand Canyon in its new series on landmarks.
Here’s the link to the post to paste into your browser:
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2020/07/08/at-the-south-rim-by-jc-sulzenko-landmarks-series/
“I thank Silver Birch Press Editor Melanie Villines for publishing “At the South Rim” along with my explanation of how that one-time visit to the canyon affected and continues to affect me. I hope one day to return. Sharing this poem takes me to the moment I first took in the spectacle that is the Grand Canyon and felt somehow I had been let in on a secret beyond my imagination.”
DIMESTORIES: JC returns to read at Blizzmax Gallery, Saturday August 19 at 3:00 PM
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.
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