Who Am I?

JCCortens, poet & educator lives, writes & teaches on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations (Vancouver, B.C.) JCCortens is driven by a passion for the written word, & a belief that the strengthening of personal voice & the articulation of our unique & commonly held histories serves the world as a model of hope, healing & inspiration.

JC’s poems have appeared in the journals The Maynard, The Holy Male, & online on Poetry Pause (The League of Canadian Poets). His poems have also been published in Art & Poetry Anthology, and an almost hand beckoning (collaborative poem with J. Swanson). As a featured poet he has read at several Pandora Collective events over the years.

His poem There is in me was selected for an honourable mention for the Delta Literary Arts Society spring contest (2024) Write On!  

As a poet, he seeks to respond to the world from a place of compassion and curiosity. Current obsessions include a series entitled Every Scar is a Story; Mapping the gaymale body a topography of the lives of gay men in fragmented times. Chapbook manuscripts (yet to be published) include Eros & Thanatos: Poems of Love and Death (2024)  and The Imaginary Lover (2019). As an educator he has taught his life writing course burningkarma for many years.