My name is Jess and I publish poetry as J.L. Fizzell – a pen name I picked out when I was nine or so to honour female writers like L.M. Montgomery during eras where women were barred or discouraged from writing or forced to conceal their gender by using their initials. My poetry is inspired…
The Power of Poetry
I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I published by first book, exactly four years and one month ago. It seems like yesterday, and at the same time, a lifetime ago. With four years having past since the year I wrote and published three poetry books in a year (yeah,…
Celebrating International Women’s Day
Canada and International Women’s Day Women’s rights look different all over the world. I am blessed to live in Canada. While we still have a lot of work to do here (and have a dark side when it comes to the historical treatment of women), I acknowledge and value the fact that I am blessed…
How to Haiku
As you may already know, my favourite style of poetry is free verse. I’ve never been very good at following rules, so naturally as a writer I drifted towards a style that allowed me the creative freedom I needed to express myself. With that being said, I do try and push myself to write other…
Mind Your Mind.
We all have bad days. Maybe something exceptionally terrible happened, or maybe you’re facing a mountain of minuscule frustrations. Maybe it’s something completely different. What you’re facing, however, is irrelevant. I don’t mean this in the sense that your experiences aren’t difficult. What I’m saying is that your perception of the experience is far more…
J.L. Fizzell 