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.

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

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. 

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.
 

Somewhere else in Pretoria

Dawie Malan in Pretoria has arrived his copy of Somewhere else by Gary Cummiskey, as well as other titles published by Dye Hard Press, including Pravasan Pillay's Chatsworth and Gary Cummiskey's Outside the Cave and Off-ramp.

Look what Phillippa Yaa de Villiers has received!

 

Look what poet Phillippa Yaa de Villiers has received: Aiyo! by Pravasan Pillay, and Outside the Cave and Off-ramp by Gary Cummiskey, all published by Dye Hard Press.

A rave review of Off-ramp from way back when

 An excellent review of Off-ramp, which appeared in City Press, when the short story collection by Gary Cummiskey was published in 2013.

Off-ramp was runner-up for the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award in 2014.

Copies are still available -- email dyehardpress@gmail.com for order details.

Gary Cummiskey's Off-ramp still ongoing ...

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 available at R200 per copy, by courier, for South Africa.

Overseas mail seems to have gone pear-shaped again, so regret no overseas orders at the moment unless you are prepared to pay for courier delivery.

Email me at dyehardpress@gmail.com for order details.

TV appearnce on BookBytes, Salaamedia

 

Gary Cummiskey being interviewed by Shafinaaz Hassim, on BookBytes, Salamedia, on Sunday 24 July, 2022. A wonderful, warm conversation about poetry, short fiction and publishing in South Africa. We chatted a bit about Outside the cave in particular and I read one poem from the collection. Chatsworth and The Edge of Things were also discussed, as single collections and anthologies published by Dye Hard Press.

On Bookbytes, with Shafinaaz Hassim

 

Shafinaaz Hassim receives Outside the cave

 

Author Shafinaaz Hassim receives her copies of Outside the cave and Off-ramp, both by Gary Cummiskey and published by Dye Hard Press.

Copies of Off-ramp still available

 

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 available at R200 per copy, by courier, for South Africa. For overseas the cost is R320 (normal mail).

Email me at dyehardpress@gmail.com for order details.

Copies of Off-ramp still available

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 available at R200 per copy, by courier, for South Africa. For overseas the cost is R320 (normal mail).

Email me at dyehardpress@iafrica,com for order details.

Books received by Fox

 

Copies of Alan Finlay's The cactus of a bright sky and Gary Cummiskey's Outside the cave and Off-ramp received by Richard Fox.

'Gone, gone' on altoviolet

One of my short stories from my collection Off-ramp appears on the altoviolet website.

Title 'Gone, gone', it is a crazy one (actually they are all crazy) about a journal who meets up with Patti Smith in Johannesburg.

You can read it here.

Copies of Gary Cummiskey's Off-ramp still available

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 available at R150 per copy, including postage, for South Africa. For overseas the cost is R200, including postage.

 Email me at dyehardpress@iafrica,com for order details.

Copies of Gary Cummiskey's Off-ramp still available

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 available at R150 per copy, including postage - South Africa only. Email me at dyehardpress@iafrica,com for order details!

Three Dye Hard Press titles nominated for SALA literary awards 2014

Gary Cummiskey's Off-ramp has been nominated for the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award 2014, while Khulile Nxumalo's fhedzi and Kobus Moolman's Left Over have been nominated for the SALA Poetry Award 2014.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Pretoria on November 7.
Read more here.

Review of Off-ramp in City Press

Review of Off-ramp in Cape Times, by Karen Jeynes

Off-ramp is the debut collection of short stories by Joburg-based poet Gary Cummiskey.

The stories read a little like dreams come to life. As with dreams, they are disturbing and disjointed at times, soft and poetic at others. Some meander slowly, others fly past. The stories juxtapose violence, erotica, and a constant sense of fear and foreboding.

And yet the style is simple, clean, and often detached. This adds to the surreal nature of the world that Cummiskey’s characters occupy: it is like ours, and has echoes of the old South Africa in some stories, but it certainly is not ours.

Described as (featuring)“individuals who are slowly being devoured by paranoia and absurdity”, this is an unrelenting read, and one is left at the end of each story feeling uneasy and a little adrift from reality. – Karen Jeynes

(Published in Cape Times)