Ear today

 

Sunday could be Friday

 

Three Kobus Moolman titles published by Dye Hard Press

 

Over the past 17 years Dye Hard Press has published three titles by renowned South African poet Kobus Moolman: the play Full Circle (2007), and the poetry collections Left Over (2012) and He Said/  /She Said (2024). 

He Said/  /She Said was printed in a limited, numbered edition of 120 copies. You can order the book from Clarke's Bookshop here.

Blast from the past: Head by Gary Cummiskey and Roy Bumenthal

 

Roy Blumenthal and I collaborated on this wee chapbook of poems back in 1998. The cover (in fact, the entire chapbook) was designed by Roy. It was also for this publication that Roy created the Dye Hard Press colophon.

Gone fishing - a collage by Paul Warren

 

Gone Fishing is a collage by UK artist Paul Warren, inspired by my prose poem 'Gone Fishing' from my latest collection, Somewhere else, published by Graffiti in Kolkata.

The poem is as follows:

The fish with the face of a judge moves slowly as always, just breaking the surface. There is no sound as you trace your fingers down the length of my spine. The fan in the restaurant turns noiselessly round and round. The waiters stand in the doorway, casting over our table. Hooks lodge in our lips, so we dare not move.

You can order Somewhere else from Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town here.

Presences that should not be there

 

Reminder: Chatsworth available for sale at the Durban International Book Fair

 

Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth will be available for sale at the Micromega stand at the Durban International Book Book at Eduvos Umhlanga Campus from 27 November to 1 December.

Chatsworth has gone into four printings and is published by Dye Hard Press.

I telephoned God awaits you!

Sloow tapes in Belgium has released a 40-minute cassette tape of me reading my poetry, titled I telephoned God.

The poems read are from my selected poems volume Outside the cave, but also from Thunder on the highway, Animal eyeball (a collaboration with UK artist Paul Warren), and my latest collection Somewhere else.

The cover shows three collages by French poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin.

To order, please visit Sloow Tapes.

Can do in no day

 

With the Safety Off at reduced price!

 

It’s Yeoville in the mid-1990s. Enter Fig, a copywriter with a penchant for living on the edge – staying up all night, having casual sex and snorting cocaine. Drifting from seedy clubs to grotty flats, Fig continues his aimless odyssey … until the day he falls asleep in a client presentation and is fired.

Nine months later Fig is hooked on heroin and turns to drug-dealing for survival. If his previous lifestyle skirted close to the danger zone, it’s now gloves off as he drops all pretence of respectability and descends into a world of syndicates and violence.

From now on, he’s living with the safety off.

A novel not for the faint-hearted ...

Graeme Feltham was born in 1965 and grew up in Uitenhage. He completed a degree in journalism at Rhodes University and moved to Johannesburg in the late 1980s. In addition to being a writer, he was an experimental composer and performance artist. His novella One Hundred Naked Beers was published by Brevitas in 2002. His work also appeared in literary journals such as New Coin and donga. Feltham died in December 2017.

With introductions by Luke Feltham and James de Villiers.

220 pp.

ISBN 978-0-9869982-6-3

We are offering the book at a reduced price of R60 per copy. Courier to your door is R100, so R160 altogether.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

Kobus Moolman's He Said/ /She Said now available at Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town

Kobus Moolman's He Said/  /She Said is now available at Clarke's in Cape Town. You can order a copy here.

Remember that this is a limited numbered edition of 120 copies, which is selling out fast!

Praise for Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth

Artist Lucelle Bernadette Pillay says of Chatsworth:  "An insightful read, with interesting and authentic characters. Pravasan Pillay is an observant storyteller, a skilled wordsmith who paints nostalgic scenes of old Chatsworth."

Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth will be available for sale at the Durban International Book Book at Eduvos Umhlanga Campus from 27 November to 1 December.

Chatsworth has gone into four printings and is published by Dye Hard Press.

Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth will be available at the 2024 Durban International Book Fair

Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth will be available for sale at the Durban International Book Book at Eduvos Umhlanga Campus from 27 November to 1 December.

Chatsworth has gone into four printings and is published by Dye Hard Press.

 

Off-ramp is now available at reduced price!

 

Dye Hard Press still has copies of Gary Cummiskey's Off-ramp in stock.

A finalist for the 2014 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award, Off-ramp is the debut short fiction collection of Gary Cummiskey and consists of ten stories often characterised by a surreal eroticism. Set mainly in contemporary South Africa, the book opens with a young man’s hallucinatory encounter with a derelict in a Johannesburg street; there is a couple’s visit to a sinister Free State farm; an editor who reluctantly agrees to meet an aspiring woman writer at midnight; two young men who go out on a drinking spree as the country teeters on the edge of civil war; a restless teenager who stalks an unknown woman; and a middle-aged academic who engages in an obsessive, sadistic relationship with a prostitute.

The stories in this startling collection offer a vision of individuals who are slowly being devoured by paranoia and absurdity. Beyond the off-ramp lies a pervasive, heavy dread and an unnameable, perhaps unknowable fear. Cummiskey creates an off-kilter reality that is both disturbing and compelling.

Off-ramp is now available at a reduced price of R60 per copy, and the cost of courier to your door in South Africa is R100 -- so R160 altogether.

Regretfully I cannot ship overseas due to operational problems at the South African Post Office.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.
 

Take a visit to Animal eyeball

Animal eyeball is a free e-chapbook of seven cut-up prose poems accompanied by collages by UK artist Paul Warren.

It won't cost you anything to read, but it may take your mind to where it has never been before!

To access the book on Issuu click here.

You can also access and download a PDF version here.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? still available at Clarke's in Cape Town

 

Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about South African beat poet Sinclair Beiles, edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska, is still available from Clarkes.

Alternatively, you can order a copy directly from the publisher at cummiskeyg@gmail.com

Originally published in 2010, this is a revised and expanded edition that was published in 2014. 

Outside the cave still available

 Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, is still available from Clarke's Bookstore or directly from the publisher at cummiskeyg@gmail.com.

Selected and introduced by Kobus Moolman. 162 pages. Selected poems from 1990 to 2020.

Huge turnout for launch of He Said/ She Said at the Red Wheelbarrow

Well, it was a huge turnout for the launch of He Said/   /She Said at The Red Wheelbarrow in Cape Town last night, and 30 (signed) copies were sold!

He Said/   /She Said is also available from Dye Hard Press and will soon be available from Clarke's in Cape Town.

It is limited to 120 numbered copies, which are selling fast!

Wednesday night is the night!

Kobus Moolman is to read from his new chapbook He Said/  /She Said, published by Dye Hard Press.

Copies will be available for sale. 

Beyond Touch listed as a pick of the week for Pride Month

 

Arja Salafranca's poetry collection Beyond Touch, published in 2015 by Modjaji Books and Dye Hard Press, has been listed a pick of the week for Pride Month!

Congratulations, Arja!

Aiyo! in Cape Town

 

Pravasan Pillay's Aiyo! is still available at Clarke's in Cape Town - either order online or if you are in the area, pop into the shop in Long Street.

Copies are also available at The Commune bookstore in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. 

Please remember this is an edition limited to 100 numbered copies!

Outside the cave still available at Clarke's

 

Outside the cave: selected poems, by Gary Cummiskey, is still available at Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town. You can either pop into the shop in person in Long Street, or order online.

Selected by renowned South African poet Kobus Moolman, Outside the cave brings together work by Gary Cummiskey from 1990 to 2020. 

Outside the cave is published by Dye Hard Press.

Kobus Moolman reading at the Red Wheelbarrow

Annoucement by The Red Wheelbarrow:

Kobus Moolman will be reading at 6 Spin Street Restaurant on Wednesday, 30 October at 7pm. 

Please RSVP here (free entry): https://forms.gle/Brf7NYxz44sihHnW6

Kobus Moolman will be launching his new chapbook, He Said /  / She Said (Dye Hard Press, 2024) on 30 October at 6 Spin Street at 7pm. His new collection is a limited edition chapbook with original artwork by Katherine Glenday. 

Kobus is Professor of Creative Writing in the Department of English Studies at the University of the Western Cape. He is an award-winning poet, playwright and short story writer. He has published nine previous collections of poetry, two collections of plays and a collection of short stories. Copies of the book will be on sale.

He Pleaded Ignorance

He did not know what the sky was made of.

He did not know what fire tasted like.

He did not know how far away from the earth the truth was.

He did not know how long a man could survive without any covering over his body. Such as skin.

He did not know the current market value of love.

He did not know the lengths a man would go to in order to find deception.

He did not know where it all came from.

Then he came up out of the water.

Then he found that he could still breathe. 

Even though it was air.

– Kobus Moolman (from He Said /  /She Said, Dye Hard Press, 2024)

As always, the reading by the featured poet will be followed by an open mic session for poets from the audience. Poets are welcome to read from their own work as well as from the work of a favourite poet.

 

Please note that 6 Spin Street offers a cash bar.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Date: Wednesday, 30th October 2024

Time: 19:00

Venue: 6 Spin Street Restaurant Gallery, 6 Spin Street, Church Square, Cape Town

Phone: 021 461 0666

Dreamin' wide awake

 

Kobus Moolman to read from He Said/ /She Said at The Red Wheelbarrow

Next up, Kobus Moolman will be reading from He Said/  /She Said at The Red Wheelbarrow on 30 October, at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town. More details to follow!

Copies of He Said/  /She Said will be available for sale.

First launch of He Said/ She Said

 The first launch of Kobus Moolman's He Said/ /She Said will be held this Sunday.

Please contact the author to RSVP at kobusman@telkomsa.net.

There are others in the pipeline!

He Said/ /She Said will soon be available from Clarke's in Cape Town

 

Kobus Moolman's latest poetry collection, He Said/ /She Said, will soon be available at Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town - watch this space!

As a bonus post, I have included two photos of Kobus reading at the Melville Poetry Festival, Johannesburg, in 2012.

44 pages.

Artwork by Katherine Glenday.

Limited to 120 numbered copies.

Also available from Dye Hard Press. The cost is R100 per copy, plus R100 for courier to your door. South Africa only.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

He Said// She Said in October

Kobus Moolman's latest poetry collection, He Said// She Said, is published by Dye Hard Press.

44 pages.

Artwork by Katherine Glenday.

Limited to 120 numbered copies.

Available from Dye Hard Press. The cost is R100 per copy, plus R100 for courier to your door. South Africa only.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

Somebody cut the clown's head off on radio!

Great to hear that my reading of my poem 'Somebody cut the clown's head off' from the poetry cassette 'I telephoned God', has been played on Dutch radio.

https://majjem.com/

I telephoned God is produced by Sloow Tapes ... thank you Bart Sloow!

Somewhere else and others in Stockholm

 

Wonderful to see Pravasan Pillay has received his copy of Somewhere else (published by Graffiti Kolkata), I telephoned God (cassette produced by Sloow Tapes in Belgium) and of course Kobus Moolman's He Said// She Said, published by Dye Hard Press and beautifully laid out and designed by Jenny Kellerman Pillay.

( Nope ... the SA Post Office still ain't working -- I posted these from London.)

Kelwyn Sole is reading his copy of He Said// She Said

HE PLEADED IGNORANCE 

He did not know what the sky was made of.

He did not know what fire tasted like.

He did not know how far away from earth the truth was.

He did not know how long a man could survive without any covering over his body. Such as skin.

He did not know the current market value of love.

He did not know the lengths a man would go in order to find deception.

He did not know where it all came from.

Then he came up out of the water.

Then he found that he could still breathe.

Even though it was air.

- Kobus Moolman

Sign me up

 

Orders rolling in for He Said // She Said by Kobus Moolman

Orders are begining to roll in for Kobus Moolman's latest poetry collection, He Said // She Said.

44 pages.

Artwork by Katherine Glenday.

Limited to 120 numbered copies.

Available from Dye Hard Press. The cost is R100 per copy, plus R100 for courier to your door. South Africa only.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

I remember you

 

Newly published by Dye Hard Press: He Said// She Said by Kobus Moolman

 

He Said // She Said, the latest collection of poems by Kobus Moolman.

44 pages.

Artwork by Katherine Glenday.

Limited to 120 numbered copies.

Available from Dye Hard Press. The cost is R100 per copy, plus R100 for courier to your door. South Africa only.

Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

Collages by Bruno Sourdin used in the cassette cover of I telephoned God

 These three collages by Bruno Sourdin were used in the cassette cover of I telephoned God, poems by Gary Cummiskey issued by Sloow Tapes in Belgium. It was a great honour to work with Bruno again.

I telephoned God

 Sloow tapes in Belgium has just released a 40-minute cassette tape of me reading my poetry, titled I telephoned God.

The cover shows three collages by French poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin.

To order, please visit Sloow Tapes.

The past is our knowledge

 

Somewhere else at Clarke's

 

My latest poetry collection Somewhere else is now available from Clarke's in Cape Town. You can order online or visit the shop in Long Street, Cape Town.

Somewhere else consists of 26 poems and is published by Graffiti Kolkata, India. It was the last book published before Graffiti's founder, poet Subhankar Das, passed from a sudden heart attack.

Sinclair Beiles in Cape Town

 

Good to see that Gregory Penfold in Cape Town has received his copy of Who was Sinclair Beiles?, published by Dye Hard Press.

Illegal parking

Spring is springing