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January 20, 2025—A Lament
A poem for today, January 20, 2025, written in 2017 and published in A. Garnett Weiss’s 2024 poetry collection, Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue.
Trumped
Underhanded ways, shortcuts
wallpaper incorrigible pranksters
who thought nothing of hiding things,
weaving an unfiltered outlook, a myriad
of erratic logistics into action around the world.
Found poem sources: words and phrases drawn unaltered from obituary articles and death notices published in the April 29, 2017, Toronto Globe and Mail.
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Chris Fanning reviews LIFE, AFTER LIFE in the December 11 PICTON GAZETTE
Here’s the link to the review written by Chris Fanning, literary maven and co-publisher of the Picton Gazette, Canada’s oldest community newspaper. https://pictongazette.ca/post/poems-of-many-voices “I welcome this serious and in depth consideration of my new poetry collection, the second one published by Aeolus House under my pen name, A. Garnett Weiss, ” JC noted. The 60+…
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PERIODICITY JOURNAL on December 4 featured a review of LIFE, AFTER LIFE
In rob mclennan’s Periodicity Journal, prize-winning Ottawa poet Jean Van Loon gives Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue a very fine reception. Here’s a link to the post: https://periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2024/12/jean-van-loon-life-after-life-by.html JC Sulzenko thanks Van Loon for her careful consideration of this collection of found poems, written under the pen name A. Garnett Weiss. Van Loon comments…
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Picton launch of LIFE, AFTER LIFE—FROM EPITAPH TO EPILOGUE and a jigsaw puzzle featuring the book
JC Sulzenko’s new book of poetry, Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue, was launched November 30 at the Prince Edward County Public Library’s branch in Picton. The hour-long celebration included readings by those in attendance and ended with refreshments. Published under her pen name, A. Garnett Weiss, Life, after Life is JC’s third poetry collection. In…
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THE LIGHT EKPHRASTIC November 2024 issue showcases JC Sulzenko and Vin Grabill
JC thanks Editor Jenny O’Grady for selecting her to work with visual artist Vin Grabill for the 59th issue of The Light Ekphrastic (TLE.) “I have been paired with exciting creators through this online, innovative journal a number of times. This autumn’s experience proved challenging and rewarding.” The journal’s process allows each partner to select…
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LIFE, AFTER LIFE–FROM EPITAPH TO EPILOGUE launched in Toronto
Aeolus House launched JC’s new book of poetry, Life, after life—from epitaph to epilogue, on Sunday, November 3, at the Free Times Café in Toronto. The book is published under JC’s pen name, A. Garnett Weiss. The event celebrated how JC turned words and phrases found in obituaries published in the Globe and Mail into…
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Between Beauty and Loss, JC Sulzenko’s hands-on County Arts Lab Workshop in October
Join JC over the weekend of October 14 and 15 to explore collage and found poetry and the dialogue between the two as part of the offerings from the The Prince Edward County Arts Council at the Armoury in Picton, Ontario. Each afternoon, participants will delve into their personal experience and how that relates to…
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ARTSCENE featured JC’s winning cento on 99.3FM Voice of the County
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…
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Wind and Water 2023 Contest awards first place to JC writing as A. Garnett Weiss
JC thanked the judges and convenors of the Prince Edward County Arts Council’s Annual Wind and Water Writing Contest for selecting her cento as the winning poetry entry. The cento “For our many moods, there is nothing like a lantern” uses lines drawn unaltered apart for reasons of punctuation from individual poems by 9 different…
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Ontario Poetry Society and Aeolus House Poetry Afternoon April 15, 2PM-4PM
JC reads from her collection, Bricolage, A Gathering of Centos, at the Spring into Poetry in-person book launch, Saturday, April 15 at the Toronto Public Library’s Main Street Branch, 137 Main Street. IB Iskov, President and Founder of the Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS), and Aeolus House Publisher Allan Briesmaster co-host this TOPS event at which…
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JC’s “Find a poem” Workshop for NCR Canadian Authors Association
JC was delighted with the turn-out for the April 11 ZOOM workshop on how to find a poem as a way to celebrate National Poetry Month! Whether erasure, black-out, or cut-up poetry intrigues (or all 3!), this hour-long interactive session engaged local and faraway participants in exploring the possibilities for creating an original work from…
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BRICOLAGE in the Poetry Super Highway 2023 Great Poetry Exchange
JC Sulzenko participated in the Poetry Super Highway’s Great Poetry Exchange by sending a copy of her collection of centos to another poet whose address the US-based publisher provided. She wrote BRICOLAGE as A. Garnett Weiss, her pseudonym. Here’s the link to the list of poets whose work featured in this 2023 initiative: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great_poetry_exchange/ “This…
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BRICOLAGE stays a finalist: JC Sulzenko congratulates winners of the CAA’s Fred Kerner Book Award
JC congratulated Catherine Graham (winner) and and Susan Olding (Honourable Mention) who took home top awards in the Canadian Author Association’s (CAA) Fred Kerner Book Award Contest. She feels honoured to have had her collection of centos, BRICOLAGE, among five finalists for this national prize. Aeolus House published BRICOLAGE in 2021 under her pseudonym, A.…
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Centos for the 21st century –lose yourself in BRICOLAGE
On October 15, JC and colleague Blaine Marchand gave a by-invitation, in-person reading from their new poetry collections for friends under the canopy at the most hospitable winery in Prince Edward County, Half Moon Bay Winery. This event followed Aeolus House’s virtual launch of JC’s book of centos, BRICOLAGE, and Blaine’s BECOMING HISTORY on Thursday,…
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Impromptu poetry morphs into BESPOKE POETRY or POETRY To-GO– JC Sulzenko writes poems on commission
“I just can’t resist the challenge: writing to a subject not of my choosing, suggested by someone whom I didn’t know beforehand, for the most part, to mark a birthday, an anniversary, a special event or person, or in memoriam,” JC admits. “I’ve now launched “BESPOKE POETRY” to give me the chance to create new…
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“Siren,” A. Garnett Weiss creates a found poem inspired by Silver Birch Press’s Nancy Drew Anthology, published October 1, 2016
Siren When you feel like talking, tell these stories. In fine antique gallery paintings, even those depicting angels, a woman is seen gliding over the water dressed in such a flimsy, evening-type dress you will forget what happened, if you capture her. From somewhere nearby, hear low singing sounds like some fairy tales. Refuse…
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Brick Books Celebration of Canadian Poetry Series features JC’s introduction of A. Garnett Weiss who celebrates Al Purdy and Friends
The day before Canada Day, Brick Book’s website featured JC’s article on A. Garnett Weiss’s use of the cento form to celebrate the writing of poets such as Al Purdy, Lorna Crozier, E. J Pratt, Monty Read, Molly Peacock and Leonard Cohen. Here’s the link to the article: http://www.brickbooks.ca/category/news/celebrate-canadian-poetry/
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Day 30 poem, “Generation, from memory,” the last piece in the month-long poetry challenge
I accepted the day 29 prompt in NaPoWriMo.net because the Day 30 prompts from that site and from Found Poetry Review were not a good fit. I am pleased to have participated in this month-long writing challenge but, at the same time, feel relieved it’s over. And apologetic that I was a day late once in…
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Beth Ayer’s April 29 Impromptu prompt to write a poem from an unintelligible text (in your own language)
Beth Ayer’s challenge through FPR was as follows: “In the spirit of heading into darkness after all things unseeable and obscure, write a poem using a text that is inexplicable to you. Could be quantum physics, thermodynamics, mathematics, aeronautical engineering – or something else altogether that to you speaks in incomprehensible language. Choose a text or…
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Irresistible prompt to write online erasure poem (April 27, Greg Santos in FPR)
I will return to April 28’s fine prompt from Jenni B. Baker in FPR which warrants far more time than one day provides. Instead, I chose one of Greg Santos’s from yesterday to: “Go to Wave Books’ Erasures website to find online source texts…The cool website lets you click on any word or punctuation mark…
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April 27 Impromptu from Greg Santos in Found Poetry Review to write a reversal poem
Though it proved hard to select which of Greg Santos’ April 27 prompts to follow, I chose this one: “Find a draft of a poem you’ve already written. Rewrite your new poem backwards, writing the last stanza first and so on. The new order might reveal something new and exciting.” I began with a piece I had…
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April 26 prompt: Write a call-and-response poem
This prompt from NaPoWriMo.net resonated with me. Here’s what was suggested:“Calls-and-responses are used in many sermons and hymns, in which the preacher or singer asks a question or makes an exclamation, and the audience responds with a specific, pre-determined response….as a sort of refrain or chorus that comes up repeatedly, while the call can vary…
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April 25 Impromptu Found Poetry Review Challenge — a homophonic interpretation
This prompt from Nancy Chen Long “involves reading a poem in another language that you do not speak. The language of the poem you select must be one in which you don’t know what’s being said, so that your imagination has greater room to play… Find a poem in its original language….Sound out the poem…
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April 24 Craig Dworkin’s Impromptu challenge (FPR) to recreate a text from an erasure poem
Craig Dworkin’s prompt through Found Poetry Review: Take an erasure poem and then add “words to fill in the empty spaces in order to create a new text that flows naturally and coherently. Words should fit exactly — to the letter — so that the result appears to be perfectly justified prose.” He added: “Don’t cheat by kerning.”…
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Day 23: Daniel Levin Becker’s prompt in The Found Poetry Review
Daniel Levin Becker suggested writing a truncated version of the récapitul ” a fixed poetic form created by Jacques Jouet in 2010.” For this “petit récapitul portatif: The poem consists of 10 lines total, in a 3-3-3-1 stanza distribution. Each line is 9 syllables long. No meter is required. The lines do not rhyme. After…
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Day 22: Earth Day poem challenge
Once again a day late. Since I found the challenge in the Found Poetry Review forced me to admit how poorly I understand that kind of ‘computerspeak,’ I turned again to NaPoWriMo.Net. Here’s the prompt from Gloria Gonsalves: Write a poem in honor of Earth Day, which led to two poems. The one below and on the…
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Day 21 prompt: Fairy tale skew
The April 21 prompt from NaPoWriMo.net appealed more than what was on offer at The Found Poetry Review, which has suggested a number of prompts that would require a week’s efforts. Here’s the prompt: “Write a poem in the voice of minor character from a fairy tale or myth.” Of course, always blame the woman…
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Day 20 Challenge: to write a Kenning or two
Today’s prompt through NaPoWriMo.net comes from Vince Gotera, who suggests a “Kenning” poem. “Kennings were riddle-like metaphors used in the Norse sagas.” Definitions: “A Kenning is a two-word phrase describing an object often using a metaphor. A Kennings poem is a riddle made up of several lines of kennings to describe something or someone.” The…
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Day 19: Lost in translation in response to Michael Leong’s prompt in the Found Poetry Review
Here is Michael’s prompt. “When we speak of “translation,” we usually refer to the process of turning a text that is written in one language into another language. But if think about translation more broadly, we can imagine a diverse range of experimental processes that can spark new writing. All you need is to find…
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Day 18: To incorporate in a poem the “sound of home” (from NaPoWriMo.net)
NaPoWriMo optional prompt for April 18: To write a poem that incorporates the ‘sound of home,’ figures of speech, ways of talking people around you may have used and you may not hear anymore. “Coax ear and voice backwards.” Which is what I did, though I deliberately didn’t seek to abandon adult words as had…
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Day 17 Prompt from Jeff Griffin through the Found Poetry Review
The prompt from Jeff Griffin took me to the 2015 Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology. As suggested, I read it through and transcribed chronologically and without punctuation what words or phrases I found “remarkable.” I then copied the text into Google Translate through a cycle of 5 different languages and then back to English. I’m afraid the chronology and…
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Day 16 Prompt from NaPoWriMo.net — choosing words from a specialized dictionary
Instead of the April 16 prompt from The Found Poetry Review, which may have provided a constellation of possibilities to others but left me cold, I followed, instead, the optional prompt for April 17 from NaPoWriMo.net, which both intrigued and amused. Here’s the prompt: “Use ten words from a specialized dictionary in a poem.” The…
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Day 15 Found Poetry Review Prompt from Joel Katelnikoff: Love what you hate
Joel Katelnikoff’s prompt took me to the reading list my book group set for 2015-2016 over my own objections to a sole focus on fiction and non-fiction related to Canada’s aboriginal or indigenous peoples. I felt the weight of the choices but read the books, on occasion with gritted teeth. What follows, then, is my…
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Day 14: Prompt from Brian Oliu Re: The Found Poetry Review Challenge
Brian Oliu suggested setting aside “about twenty minutes of your day with the intention of “doing research” for a piece. Do not allow yourself to write about anything that you do not experience firsthand….Allow yourself to be immersed in your project & only trust “first hand research” take notes, but don’t let the notes dictate…
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Day 13: Prompt from the Found Poetry Review
The April 13 prompt from Senna Yee had a light-hearted side: “Travel websites have always intrigued me with their language– visual, lush and sometimes a bit dramatic and naive. Browse and write down any words/phrases that interest you….Craft a poem using only these words/phrases. You may arrange them in any way you wish.” Of course,…
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Day 12 Impromptu poem through the Found Poetry Review
Oh dear. Another day late. Well, can’t be helped. Here is the prompt from Robert Fitterman, borrowed from Steve Zuttanski: “Collect found language from individuals who articulate how they feel, specifically, in their bodies…physical symptoms in the body (neck, head, stomach, feet, etc). Use at least 20 different posts from different speakers. Modify, arrange, modify.” Which I modified,…
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Day 10: Catch up impromptu poem
Instead of taking the cue from the Found Poetry Review for April 10, turned to NaPoWriMo.net and the lead from Lillian Hallberg’s challenge: ” to write a “book spine” poem. This involves taking a look at your bookshelves, and writing down titles in order (or rearranging the titles) to create a poem…. that is seeded throughout with…
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April 11: impromptu poem from another prompt
Fell off the wagon yesterday (April 10) and didn’t write a poem in response to Found Poetry Review’s prompt. Perhaps will have a chance to catch up later today. Perhaps not. Didn’t really feel any affinity for today’s prompt from that source which had to do with astrological signs and other stuff. Instead, attempted a…
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Impromptu poem 9 (Found Poetry Review)
Here’s the prompt for April 9 from Frank Montesonti about a novel (for Garnett) and intriguing way to approach erasure poetry and the start of a poem employing the new approach: “Erasure poetry in its essence….is just the idea of selection. Highlighting the words you do want to keep instead of erasing the ones you…
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Impromptu poem 8 (Found Poetry Review)
Harold Abramowitz suggested this prompt: “Write something you cannot remember: a memory of something – a story, an anecdote, a song, another poem, a recipe, an episode of a television program, anything, that you only partially or imperfectly remember. Write multiple versions, at least 6, of this memory.” What came to me were distinct ‘verses,’…
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April 7, Impromptu poem (Found Poetry Review)
Simone Muench suggested the following prompt: “write a cento that is a self-portrait, or anthology of your life, utilizing lines and fragments from your own work,” an intriguing and somewhat daunting task. You’re lost if you look, if you listen, if you follow Austere, without edges or colour, small-smiling, she looks down, watches, waits…
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Impromptu poem: Day 6 (Found Poetry Review)
In response to Noah Eli Gordon’s prompt to “write a poem comprised of a single sentence, spread across at least seven lines of no fewer than 5 words each. Repeat one of your lines 3 times, but not in succession. Include the following: the phrases ‘as when the,’ a scientific term, a flower’s proper name,…
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Impromptu poem: Day 5
Here’s Garnett’s response to Sarah Blake’s prompt in the Found Poetry Review Impromptu series for National Poetry Month. She suggested choosing a song and having its dynamics open the door to a poem. The song Garnett chose is Carole King’s “You’ve got a friend, ” which Garnett sang and read until this poem happened. Perhaps…
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April 4 Impromptu Poem through the Found Poetry Review
The prompt from Woody Leslie involves meanings that have multiple words. He said “write a word, make list of other words related to it, combine these words into a woodblock sharing letters, keep rearranging, adding or subtracting words till you have a woodblock you like aesthetically both visually and linguistically… it can stand alone as…
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April 3, Impromptu Poem
Kay lied to us. She couldn’t cope with such colour. Her vision shattered like stained glass, kinetic: An apocalypse on that day. Here is the prompt: “Stare at a word until the letters start to discorporate. You will find that letter cohesion, the letter glue that keeps letters stuck inside a word, is…
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April 2 Impromptu ‘Lite’ Poem in Response to Found Poetry Review’s Prompt of the Day
Drunktime is even more spectacular Whatever your potion it’s all here in the liquor cabinet packed with endless blends perfect proofs and an unrivalled flood of possibilities. There are so many drinks to discover everyday this way. Prompt: go to an ad, take out the nouns and add others as you will. Source: Ad…
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A. Garnett Weiss to write a poem-a-day in Found Poetry Review’s April challenge
Starting yesterday, (yes, is a day late, explanation to follow), JC, using her pseudonym A. Garnett Weiss, will follow prompts from the Found Poetry Review (FPR) to create a poem a day during National Poetry Month. She intends to post them on this website at a minimum. “What can I say? I am a luddite…
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A. Garnett Weiss: Sole Canadian poet in Silver Birch Press’s “Ides” collection of chapbooks
The past has a habit of not only of catching up but also of having a future. A few years ago, JC Sulzenko began interviewing people whose choices about what to do and who to be in life interested her. In many cases, she spoke with friends and acquaintances. She also sought out strangers in…
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Silver Birch Press tells all about JC’s multiple identities
Today, Silver Birch Press has featured “What’s in my name” by A. Garnett Weiss in its ALL ABOUT MY NAME poetry series. Here’s the link to the post: What’s in my name by A. Garnett Weiss (All About My Name Poetry Series) The poem and additional biographical and explanatory notes reveal choices JC has made to…
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“Vallum” features Weiss’s “Hesitation marks” as its poem of the week
Garnett is delighted that the magazine’s editor has chosen “Hesitation marks” for the poem of the week. This poem first appeared in Vallum among the selections on the topic of speed. “The piece is a cento that I wrote using lines from different poems by Robin Robertson. I am honoured that Vallum features it again…
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Death of Nobel Laureate Tomas Transtromer – a cento in homage by A. Garnett Weiss
When no one was looking It happens in this or maybe that way: Inside you opens up, vault after vault endlessly. I am not empty. I am open and grow milder and wilder than here. Time streams down from the sun and the moon with journeys in its claws. While the sleepless days relieved one…