JC Sulzenko, Canadian Poet & Author

A poem JC included in her debut collection from Point Petre Publishing, South Shore Suite…POEMS (2017) appears in the August newsletter from the South Shore Joint Initiative (SSJI). JC thanks editor John F. Foster for choosing it for the issue.

Here’s a link to where the poem can be found on the SSJI site:

https://www.ssji.ca/the_south_shoreliner_37_august2026?utm_campaign=the_south_shoreliner_37_aug26&utm_medium=email&utm_source=southshoreji#choreography

“I wrote ‘Choreography for an afternoon’ during a silent retreat on the Madawaska River. Unaccustomed as I was to being restricted in this way, I found the days passed quickly as I wrote, read and created collages. I returned to that ecumenical facility a couple of times and left after each stay refreshed, “ JC explained.

SSJI describes its mandate this way: “a volunteer-run Canadian, non-profit charitable organization with a vision to permanently protect Prince Edward County’s South Shore, where together biodiversity and people thrive.”

JC originally wrote this poem about driving lessons as part of collection she and her collaborative writing partner, Carol A. Stephen, were developing to include poems exploring key experiences during their youth, adulthood and aging. Each poet wrote a piece in response to the same theme. As a whole, the collection would reveal the parallels and differences in their life experiences. 

JC is now going solo on the project, since Carol passed away in the fall of 2025. “I miss her presence every writing day,  but I am still on the path we chose together. 

“Ticket to ride”  aligns with Silver Birch Press’s current theme, Words of Advice. JC thanks this innovative press out of California for featuring her work again.

Here’s a link to the site: 

Ticket to ride by JC Sulzenko (WORDS OF ADVICE Poetry & Prose Series)

JC will return to sharing a line-a-day, be it poetic or philosophical, rhetorical or literal. Impromptu. Unplanned. And not every day

July 6, 2026

Brown moth, unmoving on the floor, shifted into a glass, tossed into the air flies toward the sun.

Found Poetry Workshop

National Poetry Month began with JC’s found poetry workshop for members of the Heliconian Club in Toronto. Well attended and received, JC covered her way of finding poems in words written by others, whether creating centos from lines in poems by diverse poets or cut-and-paste, blackout, and erasure poems using words from every imaginable source, including, but not limited to, best-seller lists, ads, novels, newspapers, and creative non-fiction.

Carol A. Stephen Celebration of life

She was then honoured to emcee the celebration of life for her long-time friend and collaborative writing partner, poet Carol A. Stephen, in Carleton Place, Ontario. She crafted the proceedings to give guests a chance to hear readings of Carol’s work by poets, well known and lesser known, who valued Carol as a writer and a friend. JC and Carol wrote poems collaboratively and published two chapbooks, Breathing Mutable Air and Slant of Light. They also wrote a full collection of collaborative ekphrastic poems, Breath of Sky and Water, which placed well in a U.S. contest but which is still looking for a publisher. Their collaboration on a new project consisting of poems written individually to the same themes and with the working title Becoming Mortal was cut short by Carol’s death in November, 2025.

As JC mourns, she recognizes that Carol A. Stephen will be missed not only by her family and friends but by poetry communities in the National Capital Region, across Canada, and internationally.

The County Writes…The County Reads Appearance

On April 19, 2026, JC returned to Lynn Pickering’s radio show, The County Writes…The County Reads, on 99.3 County FM after the noon news on Sunday, April 19. This program explored what book each of three guests is reading.

JC spoke of how little she read as a child but now is a member of three bookclubs and juggles the reading lists as best she can.

In response to the host’s question about one book JC has read recently that struck her, JC chose MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. “Not for the book , itself, which combines elements of a murder mystery, love story and social commentary, but for the derivative reading I devoured about author Finney Boylan after I read the novel.”

Griffin Poetry Prize Controversy

Scott Griffin should have known better. When the lucrative Griffin Poetry Prize merged two categories of poetry, international and Canadian, into providing one shot to poets around the word at a bigger pot, Canadian poets were right to feel shortchanged.

In the wake of legitimate dismay that the long list for the 2026 prize features not one Canadian poet, Mr. Griffin has asked for commentary on the issue.

Anyone interested in ensuring the vibrancy of the Canadian poetry community should consider replying to him with a call to reinstate the Canadian category. Or to be even bolder, why not drop the international category all together? When Canada’s identity and sovereignty are under such pressure, surely focussing scarce resources in recognizing the excellence of our poets makes good sense.

Here’s link to QUILL AND QUIRE’s story which includes access to a form where comments can be sent to Scott Griffin..

https://quillandquire.com/omni/griffin-poetry-prize-seeks-feedback-on-format

I stand by what I said in my letter to the Globe and Mail, published in September, 2022. 

Here’s the text.

“I am a long-time 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.”

What else might April bring? Hopefully some sunshine and NO MORE SNOW!