JC Sulzenko, Canadian Poet & Author

Let us stand here and admit we have no road,
though what we say can cover truth
beneath the bitter ground this year—

the past itself disgraced by the ferocity of the new
edges curling with blasphemy and blame—
oppression which preceded history.

Vigilant in anguish and unattended grief,
my own heart and I catch my breath in pain,
now ululate in deep despair,

in deep apology,
lonely for something nameless as they had been
like shades of broken stars.

                        Cento gloss

                        Title: Olena Kalytiak Davis, “On the Certainty of Bryan” 

                        Line 1: William Empson, “Homage to The British Museum”

                        Line 2: Fred Cogswell, “Black and White” 

                        Line 3: Rebecca Seiferle, “The Catch

                        Line 4: Campbell McGrath,“Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool/The Founding of                         Brasilia (1950)” 

                        Line 5: Molly Peacock, “Blasphemy & Blame” 

                        Line 6: Richard Greene, “Independence” 

                        Line 7: Gloria Burgess, “Blessing the Lepers” 

                        Line 8: Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, “The Race”

                        Line 9: John Whitworth, “The Room under the Eaves” 

                        Line 10: E. J. Pratt, “Come Away, Death”

                        Line 11: Claudia Emerson, “Cyst” 

                        Line 12: Elliot Fried, “Daily I Fall in Love with Waitresses” 

(Each line drawn from individual centos published in Bricolage, A Gathering of  Centos, by A. Garnett Weiss, Aeolus House, 2021.)

JC Sulzenko reads her poems which contain reflections arising from photographs in this year’s Luminous Photography show at Toronto’s Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Avenue.

Her poems respond to images created by Martha Davis, Brianna Caryll, Lucie Collins and Henrietta Walmark.

“It’s a great privilege for me to participate in this excellent show and to create new poems inspired by the work of these fine artists, ” JC said.

“I take part in each segment of the program on Saturday, October 3 and read again on the evening of October 14, an occasion also highlights talks by the artists whose work is represented in the show.

There is no charge to attend these events at the club. Here’s a link to the Club’s site for Luminous 2026:

https://torontoheliconianclub.wildapricot.org/event-6747477/Registration

Registration link

JC Sulzenko’s chapbook of found poems, How Solitudes Resound: Conversations with Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson and Emily Carr, has been accepted by Rufus Book Publishing, Canadian publisher of quality books, chapbooks and broadsides by poets primarily from Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.  

“I am honoured that publisher Ágnes Cserháti has added this collection of twelve free verse poems to her upcoming list. Rufus Books chapbooks are works of art in themselves,” JC stated. “I can hardly wait to see the poems in print.”

How Solitudes Resound  brings together the words and worlds of three iconic women creatives from different countries and eras: novelist Jane Austen, poet Emily Dickinson and visual artist Emily Carr. The poems create a compelling and unique conversation between the women that bridges time and place.

Canadian poet JC Sulzenko writes found poetry and centos under the pen name, A. Garnett Weiss. Recent publications include Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos (short listed for the Canadian Authors Association 2022 Fred Kerner Book Award) and Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue (2024), both from Aeolus House. Point Petre Publishing released her debut collection of narrative and lyric poetry, South Shore Suite…POEMS, in 2017.

For more information on Rufus Book Publishing: https://www.rufusbookspublishing.ca

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.”