I’m relieved to find such things are there,

in spite of hunger and carnage

under the same moon, and my place

in their terrible chain;

glad that my mother’s hands,

after long years of sustaining us all,

will place on her table, once again,

her annual offerings at tomorrow’s feast.

From Late Night Christmas Shopping

About the Book:

Tomorrow’s Feast is Stevenson’s third poetry collection, and reflects the challenges of today’s world. At the forefront of the poet’s consciousness here is the legacy faced by the next generation.

In many ways, as the title implies, the book is a tribute to youth. Its scope is wide and deep, profoundly personal as well as political, employing a range of poetic forms, including a virtuosic libretto in verse, a contemporary retelling of Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner set during the refugee crisis.

Reviews:

A collection by Gerda Stevenson is always a literary event of significance. Her poems are vigilant, prudent, and lucid, full of lyricism and wit. Her Mariner, included here, is a brilliant libretto. There is both intimacy and intricacy in equal measure, with her vast sweep of vision. She is a visionary who sings the world alive. Between grace and grit, Scots and Gaelic echoes, there is breathless brio as we bear witness to her stirring souls with awe and awakening. She is indeed a ‘remembrancer’ (unlike the Westminster sort), of the highest order – of poets worldwide. MENNA ELFYN

A beautiful collection – moving, thoughtful, challenging (and occasionally funny!), altogether so powerful DR MICHEL BRYNE, University of Glasgow.

Tomorrow’s Feast is a collection of striking compassion. Stevenson’s previous collection, Quines, had a particular agenda in celebrating the women of Scotland; this collection by contrast shows what moves her to poetry in her own times. While recognising our place in the ‘terrible chain’ of atrocities enacted on humanity and nature, Tomorrow’s Feast, as the title implies, is entirely life-affirming, finding grace in the most extreme situations. Stevenson uses a range of different voices, always pitch-perfect. A tight weaving of scenes lets images take on symbolic weight. There is also a delight in words, and a streak of black humour. The libretto Mariner, based on Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, held me spellbound in the way it echoes that great poem in narrative, rhythm and vocabulary, while giving it a new reading as a plea for justice, for humanity and nature in the face of our current refugee and ecological crisis. It is a tour de force. MEG BATEMAN.

I was mesmerized by the depth and breadth of Tomorrow’s Feast. Reading this poignant commentary on life in today’s world, Stevenson’s third collection, I was yet again enthralled by how she links seamlessly our past with our present, employing different poetic formats such as Haiku to sprechgesang in various languages from English, Scots and Gaelic in striking poetry. Although her poems face head on many challenges of life in today’s world – from Covid 19 to climate change or the war in Syria – the collection leaves the reader with an infinitely hopeful note. The poems subtly do something else as well – they educate the reader in art and literary history, brilliantly executed in the verse libretto retelling Samuel Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. DR SYLVIA WARNECKE, The Open University.

This volume of poetry is fabulous. It is rich with language, compassion, love and joy, sadness and grief. It is all life. Written by writer actress and director Gerda Stevenson who's voice can be heard as you read it. Thoroughly recommended! SCOTTIE ANDERSON

She is passionate about bringing these voices to life, and about making sure we hear them. SUSAN MANSFIELD, The Scotsman

Funny and moving by turns, this beautiful new collection confirms Gerda as one of Scotland's best contemporary poets. Celtic House bookshop, Bowmore, Islay.

Gerda Stevenson's TOMORROW'S FEAST is a work of extraordinary range, character and calibre - a remarkable book. ALAN RIACH, The National

Utterly compelling. The Morning Star. 

Moving...powerful...near perfect metaphor, uncompromisingly specific and achingly timeless. The Scotsman 

The poem Russian Gloves comes from her new collection Tomorrow’s Feast and must rate as one of the earliest poems I have seen referring to the Ukraine War in a personal and non-partisan manner, all the more powerfully for that, given the catastrophic division and bloodletting it continues to generate. The poet has friends from both countries and faces home voices, not-friends, pressurising her to ‘choose sides’, ignoring the complexities involved in what is now a civil war, a regional conflict, and a Russian- Nato proxy war, round which ‘a small cloud of hatred hangs/ in the soured air’. Utterly compelling. ALISTAIR FINDLAY, Morning Star

I can't even begin to imagine the amount of poetry readings I' ve attended since The Heretics in 1970. I've heard them all and I can honestly say that last night's performance by Gerda rules supreme. Her sounds are that, rhythms melodic and dizzying, and content mesmerizing. It's great to hear her voice in the reading of them at home. Only works with some. Thanks again to Joyce for finding the right pitch of chat. Great evening. DONLINA MACLENNAN

Tomorrow’s Feast - international in its reach, while still dealing with national, personal and local concerns. Stevenson remains firmly on the side of humanity…her poems remind us what it is to be fully alive. JIM AITKEN, Culture Matters