A. Garnett Weiss

JC Sulzenko adopted the pen name A. Garnett Weiss initially to gain distance from the lyric and narrative poetry and writing for children for which she was known. As she explored writing centos and found poetry generally, she decided to use the pseudonym primarily for such creative work.

“I took the elements of the name A. Garnett Weiss from family references, including a nod to my maternal grandmother and to my mother and father.

“You can imagine my surprise when I discovered much more recently that Edgar Lee Masters, the author of Spoon River Anthology, a source of inspiration for my second poetry collection Bricolage: A Gathering of Centos, was born in Garnet, Kansas! What a coincidence! What serendipity!” she exclaimed.

Bricolage was named a finalist in the 2022 national Fred Kerner Book Award from the Canadian Authors Association.

Aeolus House published JC’s third poetry collection, Life, after life— from epitaph to epilogue, in the autumn of 2024. Weiss is its author.

“This new book contains over 60, five-line found poems, which draw words and phrases unaltered from death notices and obituary articles published in the Toronto Globe and Mail. They reflect musings about living and life, rather than about death and dying.”

Reviews of the book appear in the posts on the right. Copies of both books by A. Garnett Weiss can be ordered from JC Sulzenko.

Copies of Life, after life are available at these fine, independent bookstores in Ontario: Book City in the Beach (Toronto); Books & Company (Picton); Perfect Books and Octopus Books in Ottawa.