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.

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.

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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. 

A tribute to Subhankar Das: a spirit of creativity and generosity

I encountered Subhankar, just like I have encountered most of my international literary friends, on Facebook. It was in 2010. 

The previous year I had published Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African Beat poet, through my publishing press, Dye Hard Press, and was trying to get it stocked at bookstores overseas. One bookstore I had approached was City Lights in San Francisco. I had thought City Lights would be an obvious choice, since it had both stocked and published many of the Beat poets. I was astonished, therefore, to receive a response from City Lights stating that it did not stock ‘self-published’ books – which I thought odd, considering the first City Lights Books title was a collection of poems by its owner, Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

I told this news to the Greek poet Yannis Livadas, with whom I had become friends on Facebook. Yannis immediately posted something to the effect of ‘City Lights rejects Who was Sinclair Beiles?’, to which someone named Subhankar Das responded: ‘The old man [Ferlinghetti] is really getting old!’ I then sent Sub a friend request, which he accepted.

It was about this time that Graffiti had published the international anthology of indie art and writing, the stark electric space. I was intrigued by the title, since it clearly looked back at the Hungryalist poem ‘Stark Electric Jesus’ by Malay Roychoudhury, and decided I wanted to buy a copy. I messaged Sub via Facebook, and he said, sure, it costs whatever, just send a cheque in US dollars. I explained that as I was in South Africa, I could not write out a cheque in US dollars. So he said: ‘No problem, give me your address and I will send you a copy for free.’

And so it began – not only an online friendship but also a sharing of books – Sub would send books to me (such as the selected poems of Jibanananda Das and The Golden Gandhi Statue from America, short stories by Subimal Mishra) and I would send him copies of Dye Hard Press titles. It was during this early period of our friendship that Sub also couriered two videos to me – movies that he had produced, the most powerful being The lost lines of a beauty monster, directed by Shamy Pandey. I was both surprised and startled by some of the explicit sexual content of the film, and mentioned this to Sub, who replied:’ Yes, we ran into trouble showing that movie in some places.’ I was also now very curious about Falguni Roy. Sub explained that he was busy translating some of Falguni Roy’s work into English, and hoped to publish a book of translations soon. However, it was a project that was never realised.

But Sub was always busy with projects: I never knew him not to be busy writing, translating, publishing or organising events. Always creating – and always generous.

At the same time as I became friends with Sub, I also became friends with a US poet named Erik Vatne, and together with Yannis, I regarded us as the four musketeers of poetry on Facebook – Sub in India, Yannis in Greece, Erik in the US, and me in South Africa – we were certainly well spread, like an international network – an interconnected electric space of poetry. 

It was also about this time, early 2011, that I interviewed Sub for my Dye Hard Interviews blog, and I have always regarded my interview with Sub as having been one of the most enjoyable and enriching. In the interview he said: ‘For us Graffiti is a movement … Graffiti is a lifestyle … it’s a pathway of our dream … it’s a protest against the consumerism of thought … and now we have friends worldwide who also believe in this independence of thought and creation.’  Sub and I lived so far apart, and yet I felt we were so close in spirit.

At this time Graffiti was producing several beautifully designed broadsheets, and I was honoured when Sub not only invited me to submit poems for possible publication, but also accepted them. He also accepted some poems of mine for publication in various poetry journals that he was guest-editing.

But the most wonderful surprise came when, after Sub had published poetry chapbooks by Erik and Yannis, he approached me, wanting to publish a chapbook of mine too. And so Sky Dreaming was published by Graffiti towards the end of 2011. Sub had asked me to provide my own cover for the book, and so my friend Pravasan Pillay’s wife Jenny designed the cover. I can’t recall why, but Sub wanted to receive the cover printed out rather than emailed to him, and as luck would have it, Sub was on a trip to Europe at the time, and doing a poetry reading in Stockholm, where Pravasan and his wife lived – and so Pravasan was able to deliver the cover in person. Sky Dreaming sold extremely well in India and went into at least two printings. I have never understood why my poetry appealed so much to Indian readers – that’s a question I kept meaning to ask Sub but never got around to.

It was an exciting time for the ‘four musketeers’ and we were determined that one day we all should meet, at the same time at the same spot. We decided that same spot would be India, but could not decide on a time. As it turned out, the only one of our group that I’d meet was Yannis, in Paris in 2016.

In fact by early 2014 our group started to loosen: Yannis had moved to Paris and spent less time on Facebook and Erik left social media altogether. I started a new job that was very demanding plus I was appointed as guest editor of New Coin, one of South Africa’s most prestigious poetry journals, and during the three years that I was editor I had little time for Dye Hard Press or my own writing. I did, however, publish some of Sub’s poems in New Coin.

But while Sub and I communicated less often, I still followed what he was doing. Not only was he writing and publishing a huge amount of poetry, but he was also translating at a tremendous speed, notably work by Charles Bukowski and Richard Brautigan, as well as work by Patti Smith and the Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms.

In late 2019 I received the devastating news of Erik’s death. Sub also took it hard, and I remember him posting a lighted candle in Erik’s memory. 

And then there was the Covid-19 pandemic, with its lockdowns and victims, including the great Hungryalist poet Pradip Choudhuri. 

But like some survivor emerging from the ruins, Sub entered a new period of creativity – a furious burst of writing and publishing. He published his selected poems, and used an artwork by the French artist Pascal Ulrich on the cover and was corresponding with Ulrich’s friend Robert Roman in France about publishing translations of Ulrich’s poems into Bengali.

Sub also restarted Graffiti magazine around this time and had used some black-and-white drawings of mine for the covers. Then when he published an A4-sized edition of Graffiti with a full-colour cover, he used a collage of mine. Sub was overjoyed with the cover art and said all copies sold out at the Kolkata small magazine book fair.

It was at this time that I asked Sub if he would ever consider publishing another chapbook of mine – emphasising that there was no rush, and that I was simply enquiring. Sub replied almost immediately, saying yes, and could he have the manuscript in a month or so? I backed off – no, no, I didn’t have a collection ready, so please wait!

I held off for a full year before I was ready to send the collection to him, and so my second chapbook to be published by Graffiti, Somewhere else, was published in March 2024. About the same time Sub interviewed me for a Bengali literary magazine, Boier Duniya, about my poetry and Dye Hard Press, as well as my views on the Hungryalists, the Beats and others. It reminded me of my interview with Sub that we had done 13 years before. It was like a return to the early days. At the time he was also working on a book about his trip to Europe in 2011.

Then came the news that Sub had suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital. A few days later I was crushed to hear from Santanu Roy that he had passed. It was so sudden, unexpected, unforeseen and unthinkable.  

The last photo I saw of Sub was of him smilingly holding up a small artwork by Pascal Ulrich. And his widow Sabina has told me that the last song he listened to on his computer was Nina Simone’s Feelin’ good. That is so ironic and sad, but at the same time it makes me smile. 

As we say in South Africa, Hambe kahle (farewell) my friend. But the spirit of your creativity and generosity lives on. Graffiti will continue, and new voices will emerge.

Gary Cummiskey

This tribute was published in Graffiti, Kolkata, December 2024.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? still available 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. 

Sinclair Beiles in Cape Town

 

Good to see that Gregory Penfold in Cape Town has received his copy of Who was Sinclair Beiles?, published by Dye Hard Press.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? heads to Poland

For anyone who will be at the European Beat Studies Network conference in Poland next week, just to let you know that Eva Kowalska, the co-editor of Who was Sinclair Beiles?, will be there and will have some hard copies of the revised and expanded 2014 edition for sale.

Who was Sinclair Beiles?

A reminder that Who was Sinclair Beiles?, edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kolwaska, is still available from Clarke's in Cape Town. You can click on the link to order, or if you are in the area, why not pop into the store in Long Street in person! 

 

Who was Sinclair Beiles? available 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.

Originally published in 2010, this is a revised and expanded edition that was published in 2014. 

Glowing review of Who was Sinclair Beiles?

I found this glowing review of Who was Sinclair Beiles? on Goodreads today: I certainly could not have asked for more!

Thank you, Mat!

**************

An excellent 'festschrift' (or 'celebration'), rather than a strict biography, on the mysterious South African beat writer, Sinclair Beiles.

Beiles is probably most famous for helping Burroughs get Naked Lunch published at Olympia through Girodias, at a time when Burroughs was really strung out on paregoric and/or heroin. His most famous work in print is probably as one of the four contributors (Beiles, Burroughs, Corso & Gysin) of the now legendary cut-up compilation, Minutes to Go, published in 1960.

However, as this book illustrates, Beiles is [sic] quite a prolific poet and playwright and apart from the above two works, much of his writing has surfaced 'under the radar' and hasn't been the subject of much attention by either critics or fellow poets and writers. Beiles is someone whose quality of writing is as notoriously inconsistent as it is hard to track down and read his books in the first place.

One of his books of poetry, Yeoville, for example, was only published in a limitation of 4 copies.

What Beiles has in common with Burroughs is their meeting in Tangier and in Paris, an interest in drugs, an interest in experimental artists and writers and also, interestingly, a regular allowance from their families which allowed them both to focus much time on their writing.

I hope this book goes some way to revealing more about this great writer to the literary world. His poetry and plays have been criminally neglected and underrated and it is high time that his work is evaluated alongside many of the other great beat writers who are already firmly and undeniably well ensconced in the beat cannon and annals of history (in particular Burroughs, Kerouac and Ginsberg).

Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska have done a terrific job of compiling these (mostly flattering) articles on Sinclair and his art. This is the best introduction to a little-known artist.

If you can obtain a copy, I recommend getting the second edition which is revised and expanded and contains an excellent bibliography-in-progress of Beiles' works in print.

Read the original post.

Raymond Foye writes about Who was Sinclair Beiles?

 

Burning the midnight oil with SINCLAIR BEILES, a wonderful poet who I always heard about, but knew very little about. A South African poet who lived at the Beat Hotel and was the editor of Naked Lunch + Samuel Beckett, at Olympia Press, followed by many years of mental illness which he often documented in his poems. Thanks to Gerard Bellaart for sending this book, full of essential information and many poems.

Originally posted on Facebook, 25 September, 2022.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? still available at David Krut

 Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African beat poet edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska, is available from David Krut Bookstores.

It contains essays, interviews and memoirs by writers such as Gary Cummiskey, Eva Kowalska, Alan Finlay, Heathcote Williams, Carl Weissner, Fred de Vries and dawie malan.

Who was Sinclair Beiles? available from David Krut Bookstores

Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African beat poet edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska, is available from David Krut Bookstores.

It contains essays, interviews and memoirs by writers such as Gary Cummiskey, Eva Kowalska, Alan Finlay, Heathcote Williams, Carl Weissner, Fred Malan and dawie malan.

Sinclair Beiles and the Beat Generation

A new article about Sinclair Beiles has been published in New Frame, and Who was Sinclair Beiles?, which was published by Dye Hard Press, gets a mention.

The article starts: The 1950s were a tumultuous time for an Australian criminal and con artist called William Lindsay Pearson. An array of jewels was stolen from Brenthurst, the Johannesburg estate of the Oppenheimer family, founders of the Anglo American mining giant, in 1955. This treasure was, ultimately, derived from political connections to the apartheid state and the exploitation of Black workers.  ... read more.

Winter special: Who was Sinclair Beiles?

Winter special (until the end of August)!

Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African beat poet, compiled and edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska.

Special winter price, including 24-hour courier costs, is R160.00. South Africa only.
For order details email dyehardpress@iafrica.com.

I had a dream recently that Sinclair Beiles had hooked up with John Lennon in London, in 1965, and together they had worked on some cut-up prose poems.

As Mike Hardaker has pointed out, such a meeting would not have been impossiblr.

And on the subject of music, Beiles once maintained that he had read poetry at a Grateful Dead concert at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. The Dead had indeed once played there, sometime in the 70s, but had Beiles shared the stage with them? Who knows ...

Wanna know more about Sinclair Beiles?

Then order Who was Sinclair Beiles? - email dyehardpress@iafrica.com for details.

Who was Sinclair Beiles?, edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska

A copy of the original edition of Who was Sinclair Beiles? is selling at abebooks.com for R1 400!!!!

But you can buy a copy of the revised edition for much less. Who was Sinclair Beiles?, edited by Gary Cummiskey and Eva Kowalska, is now available at Balakudu.com for R170.

Please follow the link below to order. https://www.balakudu.com/9780986998249.

You can also still order directly from Dye Hard Press. Send an email to dyehardpress@iafrica.com for details.

Sinclair Beiles, le poète excentrique du Beat Hotel, by Bruno Sourdin

Né en 1930, le poète sud-africain Sinclair Beiles a vécu à Paris dans les années 50. Il travailla pour Olympia Press, la maison d’édition de Maurice Girodias, qui publiait en anglais des livres sulfureux et subversifs, à la fois des récits érotiques (dirty books) et des oeuvres interdites aux Etats-Unis (parmilesquelles Sexus d’Henry Miller, Lolita de Nabokov et Naked Lunch de William Burroughs). Sinclair lui-même a édité un roman érotique, Houses of Joy, sous le pseudonyme de Wu Wu Ming. Read more

Sinclair Beiles: Poet of Many Parts and Places

Dye Hard Press has re-issued Who Was Sinclair Beiles? in a revised and expanded edition. I posted an item about the first edition when it was published five years ago. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed. As I wrote then, Beiles was best known for his association with the Beats. He collaborated on Minutes to Go with William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, and Gregory Corso, and helped to shepherd Burroughs’ manuscript of Naked Lunch into print at the Paris-based Olympia Press, where he worked as an editor. “Best known” is a questionable term, though. If he was known at all, it was only among a certain segment of avant-garde expatriate writers and artists living in Tangier, Paris, London, Rotterdam, Athens, and other far-flung places, where he spent many years scraping by in various capacities....Read more

New from Dye Hard Press: Who was Sinclair Beiles?, revised and expanded edition

Available from Dye Hard Press at R150 per copy, including postage (South Africa only). Email dyehardpress@iafrica.com.  For overseas orders, price will vary according to increased postal rates - please enquire with publisher.