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'Ground is a meditation on the evolution and nature of Australian spaces. The collection is governed by the tensions which characterise Langford's work: between the way our spaces are projections of enlargement narratives, and the need to resist them by acknowledging the others with whom we interact.
'Enlargement narratives place the self at the centre of the world, and share an obsession with a point of arrival which is only meaningful in terms of the story from which it has arisen. Against them, Langford proposes the idea of the dance: by which he means any relationship with another in which neither is privileged which is based on attention and respect, rather than on the relegation of the other in the face of one's needs. Loosely chronological, the collection begins by locating us within the natural world, and continues with poems about our disjunctive attempts to rationalise the nature of settlement.
'There are sequences on the nature of Australian silences, on transitional periods in the nation's interior life and on the cultural layering of our suburbs. One section explores ways in which Australia has been represented, and another explores what Langford nominates as seven of the Sydney seasons. The collection culminates in a title sequence in which our interactions are conceived as dances. Grounded in ideas, this is, nevertheless, a very lyrical poetry.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Robert Wood Reviews Ground by Martin Langford
2017
single work
review
— Appears in: Plumwood Mountain : An Australian Journal of Ecopoetry and Ecopoetics , June vol. 4 no. 1.1 2017;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry -
When Romance Is Too Culturally Meaningful to Be Common : Rebecca Law Reviews Martin Langford’s ‘Ground’
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , January - March no. 17 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry -
Autumn Royal Reviews Martin Langford and Dan Disney
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , April no. 53.1 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry ; Mannequin’s Guide to Utopias 2013 selected work poetry -
Spectrums
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 379 2016; (p. 54)
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry ; Eating My Grandmother : A Grief Cycle 2015 selected work poetry ; Now You Shall Know 2015 selected work poetry -
Claiming Ground in the Imagination of Place : Martin Langford’s Ground
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Verity La , February 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry
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Light, Dark and Heavy Handed
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 March 2016; (p. 22)
— Review of Reflections of a Temporary Self : New and Selected Poems 1979 - 2015 2015 selected work poetry ; Ground 2015 selected work poetry ; Ripples under the Skin 2011 single work poetry ; The Myrrh-Bearers 2015 selected work poetry -
Claiming Ground in the Imagination of Place : Martin Langford’s Ground
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Verity La , February 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry -
Spectrums
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , March no. 379 2016; (p. 54)
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry ; Eating My Grandmother : A Grief Cycle 2015 selected work poetry ; Now You Shall Know 2015 selected work poetry -
Autumn Royal Reviews Martin Langford and Dan Disney
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , April no. 53.1 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry ; Mannequin’s Guide to Utopias 2013 selected work poetry -
When Romance Is Too Culturally Meaningful to Be Common : Rebecca Law Reviews Martin Langford’s ‘Ground’
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , January - March no. 17 2016;
— Review of Ground 2015 selected work poetry