J.L. Fizzell

The Work and the Way

J.L. Fizzell is a poet, author, and facilitator whose work lives at the intersection of poetry, lived experience, and attention.

Blending modern free verse with moments of thoughtful rhyme, her writing explores raw emotion, quiet truths, and the small revelations that shape everyday life. Love, loss, self-discovery, and the imperfect work of being human appear often — held with honesty, warmth, and a quiet sense of wonder.

Her work moves fluidly between page, voice, and shared space. Alongside the publication and commission of original poetry, she facilitates writing and creative experiences rooted in reflection, place, and connection. Her practice includes recorded audio poetry for the Sault Ste. Marie Museum’s Stories of Northern Voices podcast series, as well as interdisciplinary performance work presented at Fringe North, weaving original poetry, live musical composition, and curated Northern Ontario nature photography.

Whether through the written word, collaborative performance, or facilitated creative space, her work invites attentiveness, presence, and a deeper listening — to self, to story, and to the places we call home.

This is the work. This is the way.

The Larger Picture

Rooted in Espanola, Ontario, J.L. is also the founder of the Paper Town Writers Collective — a free regional writing community drawing participants from across Northern Ontario, including Espanola, Sudbury, Manitoulin Island, and Serpent River.

Growing from three members to twenty in its first six months, the collective exists to create space for writers at every stage of their journey, from first words to final drafts, and everyone in between.

She also curates an online publication championing Northern Ontario voices — offering writers across the region a place to be read, recognized, and celebrated.

Her facilitation practice draws on a background in psychology with a focus on children and families, bringing depth, care, and genuine attentiveness to every workshop and creative space she holds. She has facilitated writing experiences for elementary students, post-secondary learners, adult community groups, and Indigenous students — and believes, without reservation, that everyone has a story worth telling.

This work is informed by psychogeography — the study of how place shapes us — and by a deep, lived knowledge of Northern Ontario’s landscapes, communities, and rhythms. It is also informed by the particular wisdom that comes from navigating chronic illness, neurodivergence, raising a family, and continuing to create anyway.

J.L. Fizzell’s work has been recognized by CBC, Northern Ontario Travel Magazine, the Mid North Monitor, and the Sault Ste. Marie Museum’s Stories of Northern Voices podcast. She is published in Home for the Holidays by Type A Media and has a forthcoming contribution to Fresh Eyes by Tagona Press, both Northern Ontario focused anthologies. She is a contributor, mentor, and editorial collaborator on the forthcoming anthology Born of Boreal Bones, which she named. She is the founder of the Paper Town Writers Collective, a free regional writing community that has been featured in Elliot Lake Today, the Village Report, and Sudbury.com.