The poems in If, When link the author’s contemporary experiences while living in Squamish, British Columbia, with those of her great-grandparents, who lived in the nearby mining town of Britannia a century earlier. Exploring the complex layers of relationship that make up a place–the many interactions and negotiations that transpire as different people live and work together within a specific environment–Bren Simmers offers a fresh and empathetic take on the inevitable tensions between land stewardship and economic development, finding, ultimately, much potential for connection and community.

Bren Simmers is the author of one previous book of poetry, Night Gears (Wolsak and Wynn, 2010). She is the winner of an Arc Poetry Magazine Poem of the Year Award, was a finalist for The Malahat Review's Long Poem Prize and has been twice longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize. Her work has been anthologized in Alive at the Center: Contemporary Poems from the Pacific Northwest (Ooligan, 2013). She currently lives in Squamish, BC.

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