In this collection Rustum Kozain, who won both the Ingrid Jonker Prize (2006) and the Olive Schreiner Prize (2007) for This Carting Life, raises his own bar. Groundwork retains strong connections with Kozain's early work, while introducing poems indicating the promise of work to come. His voice has strengthened and has a new confidence, making the poems (paradoxically) lighter – though they are not without his trademark seriousness. A thoughtful, pitch-perfect collection that resonates long after the last poem is read.