Saturday in the park

Full-page feature on Chatsworth in the Durban Post

A full page devoted to Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth appeared in yesterday's Durban Post. There's an article about the book, an extract from one of the stories, as well as a competition to win a free copy!

Chatsworth soon available at bookstores throughout South Africa

Pravasan Pillay's short story collection Chatsworth will soon be available in good bookstores countrywide. It is already available at David Krut Bookstore in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and The Book Lounge in Cape Town. Copies are also available for sale at the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre in Chatsworth, Durban, plus it can be ordered directly from the publisher at dyehardpress@iafrica.com.

In a foreign land

Former Chatsworth man stays true to his roots

He said, “The book is entitled ‘Chatsworth’ and I believe that the township and its vibrant residents were my primary inspiration. I grew up in Chatsworth so I am very familiar with the area. I don’t live in Chatsworth anymore. However, having some distance helped me write about it better.” Read more.

You think you know me

Let me get back

Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth on sale at Chatsworth Youth Centre

Chuffed that Chatsworth was being sold yesterday at the Chatsworth Youth Centre monthly flea market! The book is currently for sale at the Chatsworth Youth Centre for R160! Contact Clive Pillay, Programmes Coordinator at the Youth Centre, on 061 429 2574. Thanks to Clive for stocking the books!

René Bohnen writes about Chatsworth ...

Poet and photographer René Bohnen writes the following about Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth: 'I have just finished reading this. Such clean writing! Sober, unsentimental windows open onto the lives of characters who negotiate life and leave us wondering if they have slipped through the cracks or not. Bleak, but not depressing - a fascinating depiction of very ordinary days in a Chatsworth that seems timeless. Quiet portraits with lively and true dialogue, so familar the vernacular. Well done, Pravasan and Dye Hard Press.'

Gathering of the presences

Nothing like

New publication from Dye Hard Press: Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay

Dye Hard Press is proud to announce the publication of Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay.

Chatsworth is Pravasan Pillay's debut short fiction collection and consists of eleven stories set in the sprawling township of Chatsworth, Durban. The stories are populated mostly by working-class characters who all, in one way or the other, find themselves on the margins of their community. There is an elderly mother and her dependent obese daughter who must fend for themselves; an angst-filled twelve-year-old girl who secretly chain smokes late at night; a tearful man who is incapable of passing his driving test; an albino girl who attains a fragile popularity in high school; a young woman who – against her father's wishes – falls in love with an immigrant; a seemingly placid pensioner who hides a shockingly violent side; and a pair of girls who bond over a love letter and hair bleach, among others.

The stories present sensitive yet unsentimental portraits of these characters, in prose that is spare and unadorned. Pillay additionally displays a remarkable ear for dialogue, and faithfully captures much of the nuance of Durban-Indian English.

Chatsworth is a gentle and moving book about growing up, being different, but also about failing at adulthood.

140 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-9869982-5-6.

Pravasan Pillay is a South African writer. He has published two chapbooks of poetry, Glumlazi (2009) and 30 Poems (2015), as well as a collection of co-written comedic short stories, Shaggy (2013). He is also the editor of the micro-press Tearoom Books.

Chatsworth is available directly from the publisher for R160, including postage. For overseas orders, the cost is R220 including postage.

Email dyehardpress@iafrica.com to order.

Proof copy of Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth

Received the proof copy of Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth and it looks wonderful!

Open night

Coming soon from Dye Hard Press: Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay

  

Chatsworth is Pravasan Pillay's debut short fiction collection and consists of eleven stories set in the sprawling township of Chatsworth, Durban. The stories are populated mostly by working-class characters who all, in one way or the other, find themselves on the margins of their community. There is an elderly mother and her dependent obese daughter who must fend for themselves; an angst-filled twelve-year-old girl who secretly chain smokes late at night; a tearful man who is incapable of passing his driving test; an albino girl who attains a fragile popularity in high school; a young woman who – against her father's wishes – falls in love with an immigrant; a seemingly placid pensioner who hides a shockingly violent side; and a pair of girls who bond over a love letter and hair bleach, among others.

The stories present sensitive yet unsentimental portraits of these characters, in prose that is spare and unadorned. Pillay additionally displays a remarkable ear for dialogue, and faithfully captures much of the nuance of Durban-Indian English. Chatsworth is a gentle and moving book about growing up, being different, but also about failing at adulthood.

140 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-9869982-5-6.

Pravasan Pillay is a South African writer. He has published two chapbooks of poetry, Glumlazi (2009) and 30 Poems (2015), as well as a collection of co-written comedic short  stories, Shaggy (2013). He is also the editor of the micro-press Tearoom Books.

Forthcoming from Dye Hard Press: Chatsworth by Pravasan Pillay

Chatsworth, a debut collection of short stories by Pravasan Pillay, will soon be published by Dye Hard Press.