For our own occult reasons

 

The bogeyman is here!

The bogeyman by Gary Cummiskey, published by new imprint, Samizdat Press, is here! The bogeyman is a 28-page stream-of-consciousness-like story narrated by a small boy living in South Africa in the 1970s. He chats with an older friend about school, his naughty habit of breaking windows, his being barred from the local swimming pool, a hiding place he calls the cave, his dream of building a bamboo raft on which he will escape to the sea, but always, in the background, lurks a mysterious, menacing silent figure ... could he be the bogeyman?

The bogeyman is limited to 50 numbered copies and is available from the author at cummiskeyg@gmail.com for R190, including courier cost. Regret South Africa only.

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

 

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

 

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

 

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