Soundings is another landmark in the development of an important and widely read New Zealand poet. This collection continues and develops the themes of homeland and loss, colonisation and displacement that have been constantly important to McQueen. She writes as a descendant of both the colonized - on far Scottish Islands - and those who colonise - in exploring Richard Greynvile's handling of the colony at Roanoke in Virginia. Her writing also reflects the history and present reality of the Maori in southern New Zealand.