Prose without borders

 

I am honoured to have had some prose poems accepted for this anthology, which is due to be published by Sulfur Editions in September 2026. Prose without Borders is edited by Mohsen L Belasy and Ghadah Kamal Ahmed.

Like sucking in the elixir

 

Chops chutney with curry and bread

The dish at the top is called Chops Chutney, which was also the title of one of the stories in Pravasan Pillay's debut collection, Chatsworth, which was published by Dye Hard Press in 2018. Dye Hard Press also published Pillay's most recent book, Curry and Bread, which is available from select Exclusive Books outlets, Love Books in Melville, Clarke's in Cape Town and madeindurban.co.za.

It will also be on sale at the upcoming Durban International Book Fair.  

The proof of The bogeyman has arrived!

The proof of The bogeyman, a narrative/novella/story by Gary Cummiskey, has arrived from the printer and it is looking wonderful! 

The bogeyman is 28 pages, and published by Samizdat Press. It will be available for R190, including courier cost, from the author at cummiskeyg@gmail.com.

Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey

Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, is still available directly from the publisher. Outside the cave comprises work from 1990 to 2022, selected and introduced by renowned South African poet Kobus Moolman.

160 pages.

A sample of some poems from the volume is as follows:

Colours

Downtown, the colours are gone.

The people are gone.

There are no supermarkets,

no cars, no traffic lights,

no beggars.

There is only the darkness.

 

I’m searching for you

but can’t remember your name.

Immortal

Last night, feeling suicidal,

I leapt over the balcony

and landed flat on my back

in the garden below.

Lying there, I looked up

at the sky and saw how empty

it was, apart from a few

insignificant stars.

Now I know I am immortal.

What’s on today’s menu?

A cold-storage plant filled with naked underwear

A pocketful of razors

 

A pecan-nut pie found on a sewage heap

A half-burned steak gone rotten with global atrocities

 

A fish stunned into silence

 

A DVD played backwards on the neck of an astrologer

A cherry farm riddled with last year’s crack cocaine

A loaf of bread rejected by a slaughtered seal

A scrambled egg fried on the remains of Lorca

A can of baked beans farting its way to the White House

 

A frigate of onions marked HIV-positive

A bowl of soup seasoned with sinister suspects

A lasagne sold out in the name of petty politics

A pizza topped with the succulent massacre of penguins

 

A half-burned steak gone rotten with global atrocities

A fish stunned into silence

 

Wheelbarrow

 

He pushes the wheelbarrow

through the gardens, 7am.

He has to be rid of the

patients’ nightmares, that’s

what they pay him for

– so lay off, don’t bug him,

don’t run the poor man down.

 

Published by Dye Hard Press. The cost is R180, plus courier is R100 -- so R280 altogether, for South Africa only. To order please email cummiskeyg@gmail.com. 

 

 

 

Off to the land of the Incas

 

Dye Hard Intervew: Ramuntcho Matta: Expanding human capacity

Credit: Oona Matta

Ramunchto Matta is a French composer and interdisciplinary artist. He has worked with people such as Don Cherry, Brion Gysin, John Cage, Chris Marker,  and Robert Wilson. He has released 34 solo CDs and collaborated on about 20 other albums. He has exhibited his visual work in Paris, New York, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Rome.

A book titled Hello Yes Hello: 30 Dialogues, containing conversations between Kathelin Gray and Ramuntcho Matta about Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, was published by Moloko Plus in 2025, and Ce que Brion m'a dit de Gysin (Marcel le Poney) in 2026.

Your father was the Chilean surrealist painter Roberto Matta, who knew writers and artists such as Andre Breton, Joyce Mansour, Max Ernst, and Robert Motherwell. I imagine your childhood must have been interesting, with many famous artists around you. What was it like?

Everything was normal.

It was “normal” to sleep in a closet with holes in the door to be able to breathe...Read more.

He Said/ /She Said ... by Kobus Moolman

Kobus Moolman's poetry collection, He Said/  /She Said, was published by Dye Hard Press in 2024 and was recently reprinted. You can order directly from the publisher at dyehardpress@gmail.com. 

Curry and Bread is still on the boil!

Pravasan Pillay's latest book, Curry and Bread, was published in 2025 by Dye Hard Press. It is still available from selct Exclusive Books branches, Clarke's in Cape Town, Love Books in Melville, and madeindurban.co.za.

 

We are all from somewhere else

Somewhere else, the latest poetry collection by Gary Cummiskey, was published in 2024 by Graffiti (Kolkata), and is still available from Clarke's in Cape Town.

It consists of 24 poems, and the cover collage is by UK artist Paul Warren.

No matter what sign you are

 

Where has the line disappeared to?

 

Five collages by Gary Cummiskey published in Blood + Honey

Tell me about the forest

I must say I am chuffed to have had five of my collages published in the US-based journal Blood + Honey.

You can view all five collages here. 

Liberators of the mind

Liberators of the mind -- the latest exquisite corpse collaboration between Paul Warren and Gary Cummiskey.

A slight delay with The Bogeyman

 

There is a slightly delay with the publication of Gary Cummiskey's The bogeyman, but it will be out in the next month!

The bogeyman is a haunting and disturbing stream-of-consciousness narrative by Gary Cummiskey, due to be published by Samizdat Press.

28 pages, limited with 50 numbered copies.

Watch this space! 

Playtime

Playtime, a collage by UK artist Paul Warren, was inspired by the story of that name in my collection Off-ramp, published by Dye Hard Press in 2013. Off-ramp was a finalist for the 2014 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award.

Bring me up

 

Curry and Bread still available at Sandton City

Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread is still available at Exclusive Books, Sandton City. Curry and Bread is also available from madeindurban.co.za, Love Books in Melville, and Clarke's in Cape Town.

 

How patterns support the transition

Exquisite corpse collaboration with UK artist Paul Warren.
 

Staring into a 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.

Revisiting Animal eyeball!

 

Animal eyeball consists of seven cut-up prose poems by South African poet Gary Cummiskey, complemented by collages by UK artist Paul Warren. It was published by Dye Hard Press in 2024 and is available as a free flipbook or it can be downloaded as a PDF.

Coming soon: The bogeyman by Gary Cummiskey

The bogeyman is a haunting and disturbing stream-of-consciousness narrative by Gary Cummiskey, due to be published by Samizdat Press.

28 pages, limited with 50 numbered copies.

Watch this space! 

 

I want the sun to shine

 

Kobus Moolman's He Said/ / She Said is here!

The reprint of Kobus Moolman's He Said/   /She Said has arrived from the printer! He Said/   /She Said is a collection of 44 poems, originally published by Dye Hard Press in a limited numbered edition of 120 copies in 2024. 

He Said/   /She Said is available from Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town, or from the publisher at cummiskeyg@gmail.com.

The proof of the reprint of He Said/ /She Said has arrived!

The proof copy of the second printing of Kobus Moolman's He Said /  / She Said has arrived, and it is looking super!

The first printing of He Said /  / She Said was limited to 120 numbered copies.

He Said /  / She Said will be available from Clarke's in Cape Town or the publisher.

Just another Saturday

 

A year ago today ...

It was a year ago today that we were proofreading Pravasan Pillay's new book, Curry and Bread!

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

Sun Song

 

A list of Durban Breyanis -- from Curry and Bread

 

A page from Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread -- a list of Durban breyanis!

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

He Said/ /She Said is to be reprinted!

Kobus Moolman's poetry collection, He Said/   /She Said, published by Dye Hard Press in 2024, is to be reprinted. The first printing of He Said/   /She Said was a numbered limited edition of 120 copies.

Watch this space!

You can always change your name

 

When she walked through the door (la mere! la mere!)

 

Just then, the weather changed

 

Curry and Bread still available at Exclusive Books Sandton City!

Good to see two copies of Pravasan Pillay's new book Curry and Bread at Exclusive Books, Sandton City! If you are in the area, pop in and buy a copy!

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

Ambigious beatitude

 

I can't get started

 

Look out for Curry and Bread in Umhlanga!

 

Diarise for the Umhlanga Book Fair, where Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread will be on sale!

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

Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey

 

Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, is still available. Chosen from 30 years of work, the poems are selected and introduced by renowned South African poet Kobus Moolman.

160 pages.

Published by Dye Hard Press. The cost is R180, plus courier is R100 -- so R280 altogether, for South Africa only. To order please email cummiskeyg@gmail.com. 

Here is one of the poems from the collection:

Recipe

Take your favourite

book of poems.

 

Place in an oven dish.

Drizzle (as the menus

always say)

with olive oil.

 

Place the dish in the middle

of the oven.

Turn to maximum on Grill.

 

Don’t stop until

incinerated.

 

Curry and Bread in England!

Good to see that artist Paul Warren in England has received his copy of Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread -- the first copy to land in the UK!

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

Sinclair Beiles is still hanging out at Clarke's in Cape Town

Who was Sinclair Beiles?, edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska, is still available at Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town. You can order a copy here.

From Randburg with the greatest of pleasure

 

Somewhere else in Cape Town

You can buy a copy of my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else, from Clarke's in Cape Town!

Somewhere else was published by the late Subhankar Das's Graffiti in Kolkata, India, in 2024.

32 pages.

The cover art is by UK artist Paul Warren.

Start the new year with Curry and Bread!

 

Happy new year, folks! I hope that you have managed to kick the sand out from between your toes, and if you haven't bought a copy of Pravasan Pillay's new book, Curry and Bread, yet, you can buy copies from Exclusive Books, madeindurban.co.za, Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg, and from Clarke's in Cape Town!

Let the good times roll!

Somewhere else at the Kolkata Small Magazine Fair

Photo: Santanu Roy

 The photo of a bit blurred, but here at the Graffiti stand at the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata, you can see Subhankar Das's widow Sabina, with various Graffiti publications on sale, including my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else. 

Poem by Gary Cummiskey in The Odd Magazine 31

 

The Odd Magazine 31 also includes a poem by Gary Cummiskey titled 'Moving Mindless'. You can view it and other poems in the latest issue of The Odd Magazine here.

Interview with Ramuntcho Matta in The Odd Magazine

Ramuntcho Matta.
Photographer: Oona Matta

 

The Odd Magazine 31 is now out, and among other goodies contains an interview (in English and French) with musician and artist Ramuntcho Matta. In the interview, Ramuntcho talks about people such as his father, surrealist artist Roberto Matta; Ira Cohen and William Burroughs; but most of all about his friendship with Brion Gysin. He also chats about his music and visual art.

Sugar-coated flavour (exquisite corpse)

An exquisite corpse drawing collaboration between Gary Cummiskey and Paul Warren.