To connect, email infosulzenko@gmail.com.
JC Sulzenko writes in a number of genres and creates poetry and stories for young and adult readers alike.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival and the Ottawa Public Library/Ottawa Children’s Literature Round Table’s Kid Galas have showcased her poetry and her books for children. Her poems appear in a number of chapbooks and anthologies and have been broadcast on radio and television. To assist in fund-raising for charitable organizations, JC writes impromptu poetry at special events and offers some of her books for sale through not-for-profit groups.
After the success of Fat poems Tall poems Long poems Small came Boot Crazy, JC’s fifth book for children aged three to seven, her first in rhyme, ideal for reading at home, at school or at the library. JC’s one-act play for children in grades 4, 5 and 6, What my grandma means to say, premiered at the Ottawa International Writers Festival in October 2009 and is being integrated into the youth education programs of the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County(ASORC.)
JC is well known for her workshops for emerging and for young writers from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 12. Her presentations have been included in programs offered by The Ottawa International Writers Festival, the City of Ottawa, MASC, the Ottawa Public Library, the Canadian Authors Association and Ottawa Independent Writers, among others. She served as Poet-in-Residence at Ottawa’s the School of Dance (2004), Alta Vista Public School (2006) and Rockcliffe Park Public School (2008.) From 2007 to the present, the Ottawa Kiwanis Club has welcomed her as a featured Read-a-thon author. The School of Dance has performed some of her poetry at recitals.
Judging Poetry and Writing Contests for Kids
JC enjoys judging contests that encourage young writers to submit their work. For a number of years, she has been a judge in the Ottawa Public Library’s Awesome Authors Contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library, and co-edited Pot Pourri, the annual anthology of winning entries. She also judged for The Ottawa Citizen.
Reading and Writing Workshops
JC Sulzenko gives poetry readings and leads workshops on writing poetry and stories for the joy of it that are popular with students and their teachers from Senior Kindergarten through Grade 12, and with community groups. She test-reads her stories and poems for children in local schools before publishing them and values the input she receives from all.
Among others, she has presented workshops for:
- the City of Ottawa
- the Ottawa Public Library
- MASC
- the Ottawa International Writers Festival
- the Canadian Authors Association (national and local)
- Ottawa Independent Writers
- Kiwanis Club of Ottawa
- as well as in dozens and dozens of schools
JC considers a number of factors in designing her workshops, including: the intended audience and outcomes; the desired length, frequency and complexity of the presentation(s); and whether a presentation is given to or on behalf of a not-for-profit group. She tailors her fees in light of such considerations.
JC is available to present her play What my grandma means to say to young audiences and to adults to encourage dialogue on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, a health challenge facing many Canadian families.
Writer-in-Residence, Poet-in-Residence
JC welcomes the opportunity of working with students, their teachers and adults in a longer-term coaching relationships that a residency can encourage. A residency can be tailored to the interests and needs of the organization and participating writers. It can take the form of workshops, alone or in combination with one-on-one discussions of poems or stories, with or without a publication of original writing that has been developed through the residency. (Please see The Backpack Poets, the published anthology of poems from every participating student in grades 4, 5 and 6 at Rockcliffe Park Public School, Ottawa.)
Fees are negotiable and depend upon the degree of JC’s involvement.
Poet in the Park: Impromptu Poems for Charity and Special Occasion Poems
JC is Ottawa’s ‘Poet in the Park.’ JC often takes a booth at arts events, where she charges a nominal amount to write a poem for people passing by on a subject of their choosing. Whatever she earns goes to a not-for-profit organization, most often The Ottawa Food Bank. She really enjoys listening to and for the stories people share with her this way.
JC reserves the right to compose poems only on subjects with which she feels comfortable and follows a ‘no returns’ policy for poems she offers. She also composes Special Occasion Poems on appropriate subjects for a fee, which would be negotiated.
Fundraising for Charitable, Not-for-Profit Agencies
In addition to offering to write poems to raise funds for not-for-profit groups, JC has made available bulk copies of some of her books for children at a price reduced from their retail cost. This has allowed such groups to resell her books at their full retail price and keep the balance as a fund-raiser. She also packages her books and poems in attractive baskets as silent auction items.