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y separately published work icon Barefoot Speech selected work   poetry  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 Barefoot Speech
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Mateer's third collection of poems moves through issues as diverse as sexuality, supermarkets and Aboriginal presence to a powerful revisiting of his place of birth, South Africa. Written in 1995, following the first free election, the South African poems are meditations on memory and political change. The collection concludes with consideration of the relationship between the human and the Australian natural world.

Notes

  • The poems in this selection are grouped into Forms of Silence (pp. 9-22), Echo (pp. 23-51) and Silence of Forms (pp. 53-70). There are Notes (pp.71-72) on a number of the poems.

  • Epigraph:
    Yet know: all dreams, and all visions are suspect
    Not yours, not theirs, do they contain the truth
    Not even these words.
     - Mazisi Kunene.

    Silence is the rock where I shall stand.
     - Judith Wright.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,:Fremantle Press , 2000 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Across the Continenti"my beloved's alphawaves", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 10)
An Ex-Friendi"Over east my Australian ex-friend", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 11)
Orient, John Mateer , sequence poetry (p. 11-12)
Mate!i"Australia, Mate!", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 12)
Freedom of Speechi"Kim Sakkat in the Diamond Mountains", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 12)
Poiesisi"'The Saint' I call him", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 12)
Saturday Morning at the Shopping Complexi"Outside the parking area's a construction site, a maze", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 13)
The Normi"But when I saw her", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 14)
Reveillei"Darkness all around us", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 15)
The Voice The Speaking Voicei"They murdered my father. Like they murdered", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 16-17)
Transitionalationsi"I will learn what the world is,", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 18-20)
Two Women, John Mateer , sequence poetry (p. 21)
The Bandi"Friends had left to meet 'the girl with the Indian", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 21)
An Acquaintancei"The 'feral' back from India", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 21)
It Isi"Like a boat nearing land.", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 22)
Songi"How can I tell you -", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 24)
Red Mercuryi"To die of undiagnosed cancer", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 25)
A Childhood Memoryi"Through a Karoo night,", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 26)
Darknessi"Eroded like a donga,", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 27)
For the Mothersi"Like a mother she must have held me", John Mateer , single work poetry (p. 28)
VIEW ENTIRE CONTENTS ( works)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Fremantle, Fremantle area, South West Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: Fremantle Press , 2000 .
      image of person or book cover 3267381791899408892.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 72p.
      Note/s:
      • Cover image: film still from Sobriety, Obesity and Growing Old (Soho Eckstein film series) 1991. Laser disc, Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia.
      ISBN: 186368266X
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Literary Migrations : White, English-Speaking Migrant Writers in Australia Ingeborg van Teeseling , Wollongong : 2011 Z1860612 2011 single work thesis 'In this thesis, I am arguing that [a] false core/periphery binary has made a particular group of migrants ,-those who are white and have migrated from English-speaking countries - invisible - invisible as migrants, that is. For the writers within this group, this leads to a critical blindness in relation to their work and place within Australian national literature. As a critic, however, I look at the work of Ruth Park, Alex Miller and John Mateer and see it is profoundly influenced by their migrant experience. More often than not they write about themes that are typical of migrant writing: alienation, identity, belonging, home, being in-between cultures, history. For a more appropriate, complete appreciation of their work, this thesis argues that it is imperative to go back to the beginning and return the 'default setting' of migrant to its literal meaning.' [From the author's abstract]
Three Poets : Exile, Emigrant, and Settler Peter Blair , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa , vol. 16 no. 1 2004; (p. 127)
— Review of Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
Different Routes to the 21st Century Lyric Tom Bishop , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 15 no. 1 2001; (p. 55)
— Review of Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry ; Seances Louis Armand , 1998 selected work poetry
Untitled Helen Horton , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , vol. 12 no. 3 2000; (p. 146)
— Review of One of Many : Poems from Prison Brenda Hodge , 2000 selected work poetry ; Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
Chinese Concision Michael Costigan , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 222 2000; (p. 53-54)
— Review of Parochial Mark Reid , 2000 selected work poetry ; Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
Skylab and a Sestina Gig Ryan , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 26 August 2000; (p. 9)
— Review of Visitants John Kinsella , 1999 selected work poetry ; Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry ; Rogue Equations Wendy Jenkins , 2000 selected work poetry
Chinese Concision Michael Costigan , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July no. 222 2000; (p. 53-54)
— Review of Parochial Mark Reid , 2000 selected work poetry ; Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
Untitled Helen Horton , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , vol. 12 no. 3 2000; (p. 146)
— Review of One of Many : Poems from Prison Brenda Hodge , 2000 selected work poetry ; Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
Different Routes to the 21st Century Lyric Tom Bishop , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 15 no. 1 2001; (p. 55)
— Review of Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry ; Seances Louis Armand , 1998 selected work poetry
Three Poets : Exile, Emigrant, and Settler Peter Blair , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa , vol. 16 no. 1 2004; (p. 127)
— Review of Barefoot Speech John Mateer , 2000 selected work poetry
y separately published work icon Literary Migrations : White, English-Speaking Migrant Writers in Australia Ingeborg van Teeseling , Wollongong : 2011 Z1860612 2011 single work thesis 'In this thesis, I am arguing that [a] false core/periphery binary has made a particular group of migrants ,-those who are white and have migrated from English-speaking countries - invisible - invisible as migrants, that is. For the writers within this group, this leads to a critical blindness in relation to their work and place within Australian national literature. As a critic, however, I look at the work of Ruth Park, Alex Miller and John Mateer and see it is profoundly influenced by their migrant experience. More often than not they write about themes that are typical of migrant writing: alienation, identity, belonging, home, being in-between cultures, history. For a more appropriate, complete appreciation of their work, this thesis argues that it is imperative to go back to the beginning and return the 'default setting' of migrant to its literal meaning.' [From the author's abstract]
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Awards

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Last amended 8 Oct 2024 10:04:24
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