Proofreading Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread

The latest Dye Hard Press title, Curry and Bread, by Pravasan Pillay, is at the proofreading stage. Publication is scheduled for late May/early June.

We are almost there - watch this space! 

The water is rising

 

Gary Cummiskey reading at Off the Wall

 

Please enjoy this recording of me reading my poetry at Off the Wall on April 7. I read a selection of poems from my collections Thunder on the highway, Somewhere else and Outside the cave.

The recording can only be kept up for a limited time so you may want to downloadd it for future use.

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/YzcNoVvVbBvIG55-Pi3JKHOAHjL7s0m_HaLt81dIsYov0-nehXLvb3dF89aFO4Ra.GCLtPCwqOAtVAHR2?startTime=1744047157000

Passcode: E@%g5PDH

Sabina, Subhankar Das's widow, at the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata

 

Sabina, the widow of poet and publisher Subhankar Das, at the Graffiti stand of the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata. At the front centre is a book of Subhankar with a painting by Pascal Ulrich on the cover.

Graffiti published my latest collection of poems, Somewhere else, in 2024, as well as an earlier collection, Sky dreaming, in 2011. 

I recently conducted an interview with poet and publisher Robert Roman about the life and work of artist and poet Pascal Ulrich.

Gary Cummiskey reading at Off the Wall

 

Gary Cummiskey is a poet, short story writer and publisher living in Johannesburg. He is the author of several poetry chapbooks and collections, the latest being Somewhere else (Graffiti, Kolkata, 2024). In 2009 he published Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African Beat poet, co-edited with Eva Kowalska. A revised and expanded edition was published in 2014. His short fiction collection Off-ramp was a finalist for the 2014 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award. From 2014 to 2016 he was editor of New Coin, one of South Africa’s oldest and most prestigious poetry journals.

Host: Elisa Galgut

Zoom Room: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89955065083...

Meeting ID: 899 5506 5083

Passcode: 4ucS3b

What you see (when you're not there)

 

For your pleasure

 

Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread now in production

Pravasan Pillay’s new book, Curry and Bread, is now in production!

Blending memoir, humour, lists, slices of life, and vignettes into a layered collage, Curry and Bread is an offbeat exploration of the food and foodways of working-class South African Indians – as well as Pillay's own food memories.

Watch this space!

Strictly confidential

 

For your eyes only

 

Don't forget to telephone God on bandcamp!

 

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

Check it out here.

Outside the cave available from Clarke's in Cape Town

 

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.

Before a word is said

                                                                            

 

Clarke's has ordered more copies of He Said/ /She Said

 

Clarke's in Cape Town has just ordered more copies of Kobus Moolman's He Said/ /She Said and I am now out of stock!

He Said/ /She Said is a limited edition of 120 numbered copies. So if you don't have a copy, you had best order from Clarke's soon.

Coded cushion cycle

 

Somewhere else in hand

Nice to see Saloni Pandey holding a copy of my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else, published by the late Subhankar Das's press, Grafitti, in Kolkata, India.

The cover art, and cover design, is by UK artist Paul Warren.

Mellow me

 

To be continued

 

Off-ramp in England

Nice to see that UK artist Paul Warren was able to obtain a copy of my short story collection Off-ramp from 2013, which was a finalist in the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award the following year.

Copies of Off-ramp are available from Dye Hard Press at R140 a copy, including courier to your door (regret South Africa only). Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order. 

The galaxy waits for me

 

The lay of the land by Paul Warren, with a foreword by Gary Cummiskey

The lay of the land is a flipbook by UK artist Paul Warren, and consists of 12 collages, with a foreword by Gary Cummiskey.

You can read The lay of the land on Issuu.

Forthcoming from Dye Hard Press: Curry and Bread by Pravasan Pillay

 

Coming soon from Dye Hard Press: Pravasan Pillay's latest book, Curry and Bread. Watch this space!

Lift words

 

Those eyes were watching

 

No time to go

 

Last year's astronaut by Paul Warren

'Last year's astronaut' is a collage by UK artist Paul Warren, and is inspired by my foreward to his forthcoming collage novella Lay of the Land.

Paul is also the creator of the collage novella Desire follows one step behind and collaborated with me on Animal eyeball, a series of seven prose poems by me while he contributed collages.

Only the brave

 

Rereading Left Over by Kobus Moolman

This morning I started rereading Left Over by Kobus Moolman, which Dye Hard Press published in 2013. It was the second Moolman title to be published by Dye Hard Press. 

She's not there

 

Breakin' the plates

 

Chatsworth available again at select Exclusive Books branches

 

Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth will soon be available again at Exclusive Books Gateway and La Lucia branches in KwaZulu-Natal.

I don't know, Daddy!

 

I telephoned God available on Bandcamp

 

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

Check it out here.

Not outside but within

 

A Dye Hard Interview: Guided by colours -- Robert Roman speaks about Pascal Ulrich

Robert Roman (R) and Pascal Ulrich in Toulouse 2000

 

Artist and poet Pascal Ulrich was born in Strasbourg in 1964. He started writing poetry at the age of 16 and at 23 he created a small poetry magazine called Dada 64. When he was 25, after a suicide attempt and time spent in a psychiatric hospital, he was given a disability pension and was thereafter able to devote himself to writing and art. Having battled with depression and alcohol problems throughout his life, Ulrich committed suicide in 2009.

Robert Roman is a poet and artist who befriend Ulrich in 1994. After Ulrich’s death he published a biography of him, Pascal Ulrich –  The Lucid Dreamer,  plus several collections of Ulrich’s poems and drawings. In 2014 he formed  the BAKOU 98 association to preserve Ulrich’s work. He  also created a blog devoted to Ulrich’s poetry, art and life.

When and how did you meet Pascal Ulrich? Had you been aware of his art or poetry before you met him?

Pascal Ulrich wrote me a first letter on June 16, 1994. I received it two days later, directly at my workplace. The letter came with a collage. In his letter, Pascal explained to me that he was contacting me following a request from Patrick Oustric, with whom he had been corresponding for several years. And it turns out that this Patrick Oustric, poet, and great lover of ancient letters, was one of my work colleagues! At that time I had not heard of Pascal Ulrich. I responded very quickly and that’s how our friendship began .. Read more

Outside the cave is still available from 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.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? 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. 

Tell me about the forest

 

I telephoned God is selling out fast!

I telephoned God, the cassette tape of me reading my poetry that was produced by Sloow Tapes in Belgium, is almost sold out! 

On the 40-minute tape I read a generous selection of my poems from 1990 to the present. 

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

To order please visit Sloow Tapes.

Close to the edge

 

Chatsworth still available at Made in Durban

 

A reminder that you can still buy copies of Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth at Made in Durban. 

Just waiting for you

 

Translaed poems from Somewhere else to appear in French poetry magazine

 

Five poems from Somewhere else have been translated into French by poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin and will be published in the French poetry journal Dierese in mid-2025!

Thank you, Bruno!

Somewhere else is published by Graffiti, Kolkata, the publishing press by the late Bengali poet Subhankar Das.

The cover design and cover art is by British artist Paul Warren.