If This Were Real

by Gerda Stevenson

This is an autobiography in verse: beginning in the lost Eden of childhood, the warmth of family life and the wildness of weather in her native Scotland, then on to intense snapshots of a wider, troubled world: Bosnia, Iraq, Syria.

Genres: Poetry

98 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2013

About the author

Gerda Stevenson is a Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as 'Scotland's finest actress'. She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona and Lady MacBeth, and has appeared in many television dramas. She was Murren's mother in the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, and her voice is familiar to listeners of British radio, as a reader of short stories and adaptations. As a writer she has adapted a number of works for radio, most recently The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008. Gerda played the part of the heroine Jeanie Deans. Gerda Stevenson's partner was the Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail and she has published poetry and stories herself.

Her father is the musician and composer Ronald Stevenson. Her sister Savourna Stevenson (born 1961) has recorded many works on the Scottish harp.

Reviews

[Fiona Erskine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a good reader of poetry.

Although I always look forward to the biannual anthologies of Stairwell Books, it is as much for the short stories as for the poems. In the latest edition, "Dream Catcher 38", Wendy Pratt quotes Robert Frost “A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong…” and she goes on to say that a good poem should give you a jolt “down a step that isn’t there.”

Which helped explain why I so treasure this anthology by Gerda Stevenson. The musical Scottish cadence is warmly familiar but look out for power cables concealed among the words.

Each of her short poems tells a complete story, from sharply defined narratives of loss “midwife to words that will cut the cord” (How to Tell Him) “nothing without her grace” (The Red Cardigan) to howls against injustice “their ears deaf to truth, though still intact” (Asylum Seeker).

A book of poems to buy and read.

And read again.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gerda Stevenson's poems are poignant and relatable. I love them!