More news on With the Safety Off

I have received an order for Graeme Feltham's With the Safety Off from Paul Wessels, who heads the Master's degree in Creative Writing programme at Rhodes University, Makhanda. It seems Paul worked with Graeme 'a bit' on an earlier version of the  novel - something I was not aware of - I was not even aware that Graeme and Paul (whom I have known since the early 1990s) knew each other. But there you go ... the novel continues to widen its reach.

FIVE copies of donga left in stock

Dye Hard Press has FIVE copies of donga left in stock. donga is a selection of poetry, short fiction, interviews and essays from what was one of South Africa's first literary online journals (2000-2003).

With 32 contributors, donga contains work by writers such as Lionel Abrahams, Robert Berold, Lauren Beukes, Nadine Botha, Toast Coetzer, Gary Cummiskey, Graeme Feltham, Richard Fox, Stacy Hardy, Stephen Hofstatter, Aryan Kaganof, Bernat Kruger, Joan Meterlerkamp, Ike Mboneni Muila, Pravasan Pillay, Lesego Rampolokeng, Arja Salafranca, Kelwyn Sole, Ivan Vladislavic and Paul Wessels.

donga is edited by Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels, and was published by BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso Publishing and Dye Hard Press.

320 pages.

The cost is R100 per copy, including postage - South Africa only. Email me at dyehardpress@iafrica.com to order!

Poets and events at the Grahamstown arts festival 2014

Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels

Mishka Hoosen

Lesego Rampolokeng

Napo Masheane

Robert Berold

David wa Maahlamela

Lesego Rampolokeng

Mafika Gwala, Gary Cummiskey, Lesego Rampolokeng

Vonani Bila, David wa Maahlamelah, Mafika Gwala, Lesego Rampolokeng

Lesego Rampolokeng

The writing on the wall by Alan Finlay

Gary Cummiskey, bored, had a moment of inspiration

Joan Meterlekamp and Mishka Hoosen

Alan Finlay

Robert Berold and Crystal Warren

Chris Mann

Paul Wessels, Kobus Moolman and Marike Beyers

Kobus Moolman

Deep South publications and issues of New Coin on display

Denis Hirson, centre

Ari Sitas

Alan Finlay

Gary Cummiskey

Gary Cummiskey

Kobus Moolman

A note from Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels, editors of the donga anthology

it’s been a while… so much has happened… we’ve seen god, we’ve seen the alpha and the omega… paul beat mr death at his own game… so did stacy years later… alan holds out against the city folk… lionel and mark didn’t make it… the mud that caked our ankles has long since crumbled to sand and lies now like mementos of a long forgotten past on our unswept floors… the donga anthology edited by alan finlay and paul wessels will be launched in johannesburg tuesday 7 august 2012 5:30 for 6:00pm de la crème next to bookdealers of melville cnr 7^th street and 4^th avenue Melville… (cape town launch to be announced) we returned to the dugout a time ago, no sign of the lean-to, the ashes in the fire pit long blown away to reveal the grey earth of countless catfish braais… the wind caressed us, carrying off our tears as we turned to leave that place forever, having now gathered the words…

lionel abrahams

robert berold

lauren beukes

nadine botha

toast coetzer

gary cummiskey

jané dowd

clinton v du plessis

quen emmenes

graeme feltham

richard fox

stacy hardy

august highland

stephen hofstätter

aryan kaganof

chris kraus

bernat kruger

greg latter

arthur mafokate

dawie malan

joan metelerkamp

ike mboneni muila

pravasan pillay

leonhard praeg

lesego rampolokeng

arja salafranca

kelwyn sole

bill stobb

rayno van rooi

ivan vladislavić

paul wessels

stu woolman

apologies to those who do not appear in the anthology. no hard feelings. gary from dye hard and allan from botsotso bankrolled the project and we gratefully squeezed in as much as we could. maybe next time…

New title from BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso Publishing and Dye Hard Press: donga

donga is a selection of poetry, short fiction, interviews and essays from what was one of South Africa's first literary online journals (2000-2003).

With 32 contributors, donga  contains work by writers such as Lionel Abrahams, Robert Berold, Lauren Beukes, Nadine Botha, Toast Coetzer, Gary Cummiskey, Graeme Feltham, Richard Fox, Stacy Hardy, Stephen Hofstatter, Aryan Kaganof, Bernat Kruger, Joan Meterlerkamp, Ike Mboneni Muila, Pravasan Pillay, Lesego Rampolokeng, Arja Salafranca, Kelwyn Sole, Ivan Vladislavic and Paul Wessels.

donga is edited by Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels, and is published by BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso Publishing and Dye Hard Press.

320 pages.

ISBN: 978-0-620-52779-8

For more information and direct orders, contact Alan Finlay at bleksembook@gmail.com. donga will soon retail at bookstores.

Forthcoming title from BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso and Dye Hard Press: The Best of Donga

Due out soon: The Best of Donga, an anthology published by BlekSem, in collaboration with Botsotso and Dye Hard Press.

Donga was one of SA's first online literary journals, published between 2000 and 2003. Edited by Alan Finlay and Paul Wessels, the anthology includes poetry and prose by Aryan Kaganof, Robert Berold, Nadine Botha, Toast Coetzer, Richard Fox, Bernat Kruger,Joan Metelerkamp,Ike Mboneni Muila, Arja Salafranca, Kelwyn Sole, Pravasan Pillay, Ivan Vladislavic, Lesego Rampolokeng, Stacy Hardy, Lauren Beukes, Lionel Abrahams, Gary Cummiskey and others.

320 pages

ISBN: 978-0-620-52779-8

Independent publishers: how do they survive? Janet van Eeden interviews Deep South's Robert Berold

Janet: Robert, can you tell us a bit about your publishing house? What did you set out to achieve when you started publishing and how long have you been going?

Robert I started Deep South with Paul Wessels in 1995. At the time I was editing New Coin. Seitlhamo Motsapi, whose brilliant poems had been appearing in New Coin, told me he couldn’t find any publisher to take on his work. I was so outraged that I went to Paul and said we have to go into publishing. Our next book, Ari Sitas’s Slave Trades, was published a whole five years later. So in a way we only started in 2000. From 2003 I ran Deep South on my own...Read more here

Forthcoming publication from Dye Hard Press: pushing from the riverbank by Alan Finlay

ISBN: 978-0-620-48421-3

A new collection of 20 poems by one of South Africa's most innovative poets. 44 pages.

Publication scheduled for the end of October.
Price and availability to be confirmed.

Previous titles by Alan Finlay include Burning Aloes (Dye Hard Press, 1994) No Free Sleeping (with Vonani Bila and Donald Parenzee) (Botsotso, 1998) and The Red Laughter of Guns in Green Summer Rain (with Philip Zhuwao), published by Dye Hard Press in 2002. In 2003 he co-edited with Arja Salafranca glass jars among trees, an alternative anthology of poetry and prose, published by Jacana.

He founded and edited the literary publications Bleksem (1994) donga, with Paul Wessels (2000) and was editor of New Coin poetry journal from 2003 to 2007.