Writer

Jane Byers lives with her wife, two children and dog in Nelson, British Columbia. She writes about human resilience in the context of raising children, lesbian and gay issues, sexism, local geography and health and safety in the workplace.

She has worked for 25 years facilitating resilience in injured workers and preventing workplace injuries. Presently, she is an Ergonomics Consultant for Kootenay Health Services and a Health and Wellness Consultant working with BC teachers. She spent many years working for the City of Toronto in corporate health and safety and at WorkSafeBC.

In addition to her most recent book, Small Courage: A Queer Memoir of Finding Love and Conceiving Family, she has published two poetry collections and one chapbook. She has had poems, essays and short fiction published in a variety of books and literary magazines in Canada, the US, and the UK, including BEST CANADIAN POETRY ANTHOLOGY, GRAIN, RATTLE, DESCANT, THE ANTIGONISH REVIEW, THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF HOCKEY LITERATURE and OUR TIMES. She is a three-time winner of the Nelson and District Poetry Competition.

Byers was the writer-in-residence for Simon Fraser University’s Archives of Lesbian Oral Testimony (ALOT) in 2018. She has co-written two award winning documentary films, Only In Nelson and Conceiving Family.