A.B. Jackson

With illustrations by Kathleen Neeley

In The Voyage of St Brendan, A.B. Jackson tells the tale of the legendary seafaring Irish abbot. After burning a book of fantastical stories, Brendan is compelled to sail the ocean with a crew of six monks in a leather-skinned currach; his task, to prove the existence of wonders in the world and create a new book of marvels. Discoveries include Jasconius the island-whale, a troop of Arctic ghosts, a hellmouth of tortured souls, a rock-bound Judas, and the magical castle of the boar-headed Walserands.

Although the roots of this legend lie in early Irish tales and the Latin Voyage of Brendan the Abbot of the ninth century, Jackson has taken the 14th-century Middle Dutch version of Brendan’s voyage as the template for this engaging, witty and spirited interpretation, notable for its humour and inventiveness.

The book is illustrated with a series of black and white linocuts by the American artist Kathleen Neeley.

'In The Voyage of St Brendan AB Jackson’s witty four-line stanzas are as miraculous, inventive and swift-moving as the sea-faring saint himself and beautifully matched by Kathleen Neeley’s linocuts.' – Martina Evans, 'The year in verse: the best poetry of 2021', The Irish Times

‘... Jackson’s poetry has answered the call to adventure, survived the travails of making the ancient current, and returned with a beautifully illustrated collection... read this book, give it to the ones you love, re-imagine the mythic.’ – D M O’Connor, RHINO Poetry

‘Jackson’s relish in language and celebration of wonder reasserts the importance of imagination and storytelling.  The book is delightful and the text is admirably illustrated by Kathleen Neeley’s linocuts.’ – Kathleen McPhilemy, Sofia Magazine

‘Chock-full of wonders, it gives a Scots-eye view of the legendary fifth-century Irish saint and voyager… There is throughout this masterly re-telling a lively focus on the grotesque, the far-fetched and the liminal which Scottish writers seem to feel at home in… It is often funny too, with a slapstick skill in rhythm and rhyme that is captivating.’ – James McGonigal, Painted, spoken [on The Voyage of St Brendan]

‘The Voyage of St Brendan would be a perfect companion for those studying English literature or Medieval history and every sixth form/university should have a copy in their libraries. It is stylish, extraordinary, but most of all just a beautiful read.’ – Emma Suffield, The School Librarian

‘A. B. Jackson’s collection The Voyage of St Brendan finds Jackson in mytho-poetic terrae incognitae with his rendering of the 9th century tale of Brendan and his band of sea-faring brethren… This is an immensely enjoyable, spirited and at times witty collection, boosted visually by the presence of Kathleen Neeley’s striking woodcuts.’ – Richie McCaffery, Northwords Now

'The fully epic poem of ancient legend meets Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns. A veritable romp of ‘an odyssey defined by sublime fictions’. Fabulous.' - Beth McDonough, DURA (Dundee University Review of the Arts)

'A swirl of animals and monsters and miraculous things, an amazing sea voyage in the way of Coleridge’s Rime and Melville’s Moby-Dick, A.B. Jackson’s imaging of Brendan’s founding myth is a modern fable of the patron saint of whales.  Jackson’s exquisitely subtle, uproarious, comical and transcendent work is extraordinarily concise and beautiful. Its words relish and reinvent The Voyage of St Brendan as a Dark Age rollercoaster ride.' – Philip Hoare

'A.B. Jackson’s The Voyage of St Brendan is a feat of seriocomic storytelling. Informed by personal experience at sea in the far north, he uses Old Irish poetic forms while reflecting obliquely on polar exploration. Jackson’s Brendan is not cast in the lone explorer mould: when his brothers doubt, they share uncertainty, as a “composite fog-animal”. This book breaks happily with contemporary confessional trends, and invites us into its weird and gentle fictions. As the sailing saint himself calls out to Judas, “human flesh / deserves a break, some festive tenderness".' – Vahni Capildeo

'In revivifying one the most enduring stories of Western Europe, A.B. Jackson has nourished his imagination widely – medieval source texts, the literature of polar exploration, and his own encounters with the sea and with Brendan’s native landscape of West Kerry.  Also, crucially, he has reconnected the tale, in its mix of narrative prose and syllabic verse, to its Old Irish roots in Immram Brain (The Voyage of Bran). Somewhat akin to Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Jackson’s inventive, stylish versions of these sea-wonders are deeply re-imagined in keeping with their traditional sources, while also offering the contemporary reader a beguiling and authentic exposure to the marvellous.' – Maurice Riordan

'Brendan’s fabulous adventures are told in prose of singing concision and quatrains both measured and elastic.  Jackson’s ear is super-fine, accomplishing in words a series of special effects to match those of the big screen. His images gleam, his rhythms and rhymes (“giddy” and “glad eye” my favourite) are jouncing and ingenious, making each poem a pleasure to read and re-read.' – Vidyan Ravinthiran

'One of the medieval world’s richest legends has been given a remarkable treatment by A.B. Jackson. This is an excellent contribution to the considerable literature on St Brendan.' – Glyn S. Burgess

Ireland & EU: Click here to order from Books Upstairs in Dublin

USA: Click here to order from Indiebound or Bookshop.org