'What if …?' is one of the constant themes in human life – all the choices not made, things not done, lives not lived. In This Imagined Permanence, Stephens's second collection of poetry, she traces the reflections of a lesbian preoccupied by the what-ifs of existence. Poet and voyeur, philosopher and recluse, the narrator contemplates the passions and desires of women who exist as she herself cannot. Burdened by her decision to lead a life in the margins, she attempts to make other women's lives her own. A haunting investigation of the universal difficulty of reaching out, entering forbidden territory, living in a precarious world – and a magnificent sequel to hivernale, Stephens's first book of poems.

Nathalie Stephens (Nathanael) writes l'entre-genre in English and French. She is the author of a dozen books including ABSENCE WHERE AS (CLAUDE CAHUN AND THE UNOPENED BOOK) (Nighboat Books, 2009), At Alberta (BookThug, 2008), THE SORROW AND THE FAST OF IT (Nightboat Books, 2007), Touch to Affliction (Coach House, 2006), Paper City (Coach House, 2003), Je Nathanael (l'Hexagone, 2003) and L'Injure (l'Hexagone, 2004), a finalist for the 2005 Prix Alain-Grandbois and Prix Trillium. JE NATHANAEL exists in English self-translation (BookThug, 2006). Other work exists in Basque and Slovene with book-length translations in Bulgarian (Paradox Publishing, 2007). In addition to translating herself, Stephens has translated works by Catherine Mavrikakis, Gail Scott, Bhanu Kapil, and Sina Queyras.

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