Dreams of Marilyn

 

She is coming

 

Digging for gold

 

View an Animal eyeball this Christmas

 

Respected and acclaimed South African poet Kobus Moolman calls Animal eyeball 'a fantastic visual and linguistic collaboration'. 

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.

Outside the cave at Christmas

Outside the cave contains a selection of 30 years' work by South African poet Gary Cummiskey, and is chosen and introduced by Kobus Moolman. It was published by Dye Hard Press and copies are still available.

Contact cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order, R160 a copy, and to courier to you door, R270. Regret South Africa only, unless you are prepared for pay for an international courier.

Peace on earth

 

The dream is a day

 

B-movie incantations: a Dye Hard Interview with Doug Campbell

Doug Campbell
Photo courtesy of Janice Hathway

Doug Campbell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he still lives. He is an artist who works primarily in collage. When he was a child he discovered the word ‘surrealist’ in a science fiction novel and then was given a small book of surrealist paintings. This was the first step in an adventure that continues until this day. He has an ongoing engagement with the international surrealist movement through correspondence, collective games, and contributions to publications and group shows. 

When did you become interested in art and when did you start making art? At what point did you become acquainted with surrealism?

I don’t remember ever not being interested in art, in the widest sense, from my first picture books and comics onwards. I drew obsessively as a kid, grew up making and painting models and graduated into making posters for gigs as a teen and an adult. All this in spite of bad experiences at school, being told off for talking back to art teachers and having my work torn up in front of the class. Read more.

Pravasan Pillay on Literary Tourism

There is a nice wee entry on the Literary Tourism website about Pravasan Pillay, compiled just after the publication of his previous book, Aiyo!, and containing an extract from his short story 'Crooks' in his debut collection, Chatsworth.

Pillay's new book, Curry and Bread, is available from Exclusive Books, madeindurban.co.za, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Pascal Ulrich material received

 

Received a load of material -- publications of art and poetry, postcards and an original artwork -- of French artist and poet Pascal Ulrich, from Robert Roman in France.

Last year I conducted a Dye Hard Interview with Roman about Ulrich's life and work.

Thank you, Robert Roman!

Outside the cave in hand

Good to see that Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, has landed in the hands of Richard Pithouse.

Outside the cave contains a selection of 30 years' work, and is selected and introduced by Kobus Moolman. It was published by Dye Hard Press and copies are still available.

Contact cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order. Regret South Africa only, unless you are prepared for pay for an international courier.

 

Through the moods

 

Christmas is coming with Curry and Bread

Christmas is around the corner, so why not buy a copy - or even two copies - of Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread as a Christmas gift? It will definitely bring the reader(s) joy and laughter this festive season!

Curry and Bread is available from Exclusive Books, Clarke's in Cape Town, madeindurban.co.za, and Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg.

The presences prepare for Christmas

 

Drop out, turn on and tune in to I telephoned God

Drop out, turn on and tune in to 'I telephoned God', about 40 minutes of me reading my poetry, released by Sloow Tapes in Belgium.

I telephoned God was originally released on cassette tape.

Cover art by French poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin.

https://sloowtapes.bandcamp.com/album/gary-cummiskey-i-telephoned-god

Chatsworth at David Krut

 

I visited David Krut Bookstore in Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, today for the first time in about five years and was chuffed to see a copy of Pravasan Pillay 's Chatsworth, published by Dye Hard Press in 2018.

Pravasan's new book, Curry and Bread, is available from Exclusive Books, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, madeindurban.co.za and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Make this moment last

 

Curry and Bread at the Books & Chai Festival

Pravasan Pillay's new book, Curry and Bread, will be on sale at the Books & Chai Festival in Umhlanga, on Sunday 30 November.

Curry and Bread is also available from Exclusive Books in Gauteng, Love Books in Melville, madeindurban.co.za, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Soft talk at midday

 

Good morning

 

A Dye Hard Interview: Manthipe Moila: poetry as language of leaping

 

Courtesy: Salomè Dubois Han 

Manthipe Moila is from Johannesburg, South Africa, and holds a BA honours degree in English Literature. Her work has appeared in publications such as Tupelo Quarterly, New Contrast, Stirring, A Long House, 20.35 Africa, Agbowó, and Saranac Review. She was a Charles Simic Poetry Contest finalist (Hole in the Head Review) and a Best of the Net Nominee (Hotazel Review). Rootbound is her debut poetry collection and was published by uHlanga in 2025. Manthipe is currently based in Seoul, South Korea.

Your poems are autobiographical in that they draw on your own experiences, from your past in South Africa and your present, adjusting to a new life in South Korea.  What are your thoughts about confessional poetry, and do you prefer such personal poetry to more objective, impersonal work? 

I love confessional poetry – it is the reason why I am enamored with poetry at all. As for objective, impersonal poetry, I’m not sure that I’ve come across much of it. Poetry is art and objective art seems to me a bit paradoxical. As I’ve matured as a reader and writer, I’ve found myself more and more drawn to poetry that plays with language ... Read more.

Adding curry spices to canned pea soup, and other tales from a Durbanite abroad

 

A warm and enthusiastic review of Pravasan Pillay's new book has been published in Daily Maverick.

Curry and Bread is available from Exclusive Books, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, madeindurban.co.za and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Surprise artwork by Pascal Ulrich

A surprise artwork by French artist and poet Pascal Ulrich, emailed to me by Robert Roman.

Curry and Bread at Sari and Sweetmeats Festival

Wonderful to see Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread on sale at the Sari and Sweetmeats Festival in Umhlanga at the weekend.

Curry and Bread is available from Exclusive Books, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, madeindurban.co.za and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Curry and Bread at News24

In his latest book, Curry and Bread, Pravasan Pillay explores, among other things, a georgraphy of pickles and lists his six favourite South African breakfasts. You can read these extracts at News24.

There is a paywall, but you can sign up for a free 14-day trial.

Curry and Bread is published by Dye Hard Press, and is available at select Exclusive Books branches, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, Made in Durban, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Curry and Bread at Exclusive Books Sandton City

Pravasan Pillay's new title Curry and Bread on display at Exclusive Books, Sandton City, Johannesburg.

Curry and Bread is also available from other select Exclusive Books branches, Love Books in Johannesburg, Made in Durban, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Vertigo -- feast -- fast

Thanks to poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin for suggesting the title.

Durable goods from 2012 with Subhankar Das and others

Durable Goods was (is still?) a micro poetry journal published in the US. Issue 65 contained poems by Rajarshi Chattopadhyay, Sharmy Pandey (who also did the cover art), the late Subhankar Das and yours truly.

Subhankar Das published two collections of mine - Sky Dreaming in 2011 and Somewhere else in 2024.

 

A leap into liberation? I telephoned God: a recording of poetry by Gary Cummiskey

 

Was it a descent into Hell? Madness?

A leap into liberation?

I telephoned God, a 40-minute recording of Gary Cummiskey reading a selection of his poetry and released by Sloow Tapes in Belgium, is available for download on Bandcamp.

Check it out here.

Cover art by French poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin.

Visit Animal eyeball

 

Respected and acclaimed South African poet Kobus Moolman calls Animal eyeball 'a fantastic visual and linguistic collaboration'. 

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.

Eye to eye with Renegade eye

 

Renegade eye is a selection of 18 collages by Gary Cummiskey, published by new imprint Turquoise Press. Renegade eye is available as a flip-book on Heyzine. 

You can also download it as a PDF here.

Gary Cummiskey is a South African poet, writer and publisher of Dye Hard Press. His latest poetry collection is Somewhere else, published by Graffiti, Kolkata, in 2024.

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.

A day of dreaming

 

Curry and bread on sale at Exclusive Books Hyde Park, Johannesburg

Pravasan Pillay's new title Curry and Bread on display at Exclusive Books, Hyde Park, Johannesburg.

Curry and Bread is also available from Love Books in Johannesburg, Made in Durban, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

Yes, we know your name

 

6 Things You Should Know About Eating a Crab Curry: an extract from Curry and Bread by Pravasan Pillay

 6 Things You Should Know About Eating a Crab Curry

 

1. A crab curry – given the per kilo price for crabs – is one of the most expensive Durban-style curries to make. It’s also an intimate dish that involves using your hands and mouth a lot, what with all the loud biting and crunching of shells and the sloppy chiselling out of crab meat with your thumb – i.e. it’s not exactly a first-date dish. So, if someone cooks this curry for you or invites you over to share one, you can be sure that they really like you and are super comfortable around you. You should probably marry this person.

2. Eating a crab curry is, apart from working on an oil rig, one of the messiest activities known to humankind. Crab juice and curry squirts everywhere, into your eyes, onto the person sitting opposite you. It dribbles down your chin, arms, and it stains your clothing. Crab curry stains are harder to get out than an in-form Hashim Amla, so it’s strongly advised that you purchase a special T-shirt, to be used only for eating crab curry. Of course, you could also use a bib or napkin but those items are best left for amateur crab curry eaters. After several years, your crab- eating T-shirt will be a beautiful patchwork of built-up curry gravy stains, a sort of abstract impressionist painting of poor table manners.

3. Warning: no matter how proud you are of your crab curry T-shirt, never ever show it to visitors to your home. It is not, as this author has sadly learnt, the conversation piece you think it is.

4. A perfect crab curry is brown-red in colour and its gravy is thin yet deeply rich in flavour, both sour and spicy at the same time. In fact, a good crab curry is so hot that it should cause your eyes to tear, your nose to run, and your scalp to sweat. Tip: if your wife, husband, or partner is emotionally distant, feed them crab curry every day and they will be bawling their eyes out in no time. That’s right, crab curry could very well save your relationship.

5. In terms of etiquette, it’s acceptable, and indeed expected, to stick a crab leg into your mouth and to loudly suck out the delicious, curried juices. However, it is not acceptable to blow into the crab leg, pretending that it’s a saxophone and that you are John Coltrane.

6. After you have eaten a crab curry, its gravy will have, crab T-shirt or not, left its mark and odour on your body. Thus, it is strongly advised that you take two showers. The first shower should be taken in conjunction with a powerful sheep dip as a disinfectant to get rid of any trace of the curry. Once dried off with a towel, you should take a second shower to rid yourself of the poisonous sheep dip which has now likely seeped into your skin. A little sheep dip poisoning is par for the course when eating crab curry, so ignore the retching and think fondly of your next crab feast.

Curry and Bread by Pravasan Pillay is available from Made in Durban, Clarke's bookshop in Cape Town, and select Exclusive Books branches in Gauteng and Durban.

No terms or conditions

 

It's never too late to say I love you

 

Outside the cave still at Clarke's

 

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.

It didn't fail

 

Part in a glance

 

Curry and Bread available online at Clarke's

Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread is now available online from Clarke's in Cape Town.

You can also pop into the store in Long Street and get your copy on the spot!

Curry and Bread at Love Books!

Good to see Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread on sale at Love Books in Melville! Go there and buy a copy!

Curry and Bread for sale at the Heritage Food Festival

Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread will be on sale at the Heritage Food Festival next Saturday, 6 September, in Durban. Visit the Micromega stand to buy a copy!