Book Launch at David Krut | Garth Mason’s The Promise of Ploughs

 

On the 24th of October David Krut Books were delighted to welcome Garth Mason to the Blue House at 151 Jan Smuts for the launch of his debut poetry collection the promise of ploughs, published by Dye Hard Press. Garth Mason is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Arabic at the University of South Africa (UNISA). While this is his first published poetry collection, Mason has been writing poetry since his own days as a university student and over the years, he has had his poems published in numerous editions of New Coin and Stanza Poetry Magazine. Read more...

With Garth Mason at the launch of the promise of ploughs

 

Garth Mason and Gary Cummiskey at the launch of Mason's debut poetry collection, the promise of ploughs, published by Dye Hard Press, at David Krut bookstore in Parkwood, Johannesburg.

Garth Mason at the launch of the promise of ploughs

Garth Mason, at the launch of his debut collection of poetry, the promise of ploughs, published by Dye Hard Press, at David Krut bookstore in Parkwood.

Photo: Juliet Glover

Kobus Moolman's He Said/ /She Said soon to be available again at Clarke's

 Kobus Moolman's He Said/   /She Said, published by Dye Hard Press, will soon be available at Clarke's in Cape Town again - watch this space!

He Said/   /She Said was initially printed as a limited, numbered edition of 120 copies in 2025. An unnumbered reprint was made in 2026.

the promise of ploughs at Clarke's in Cape Town

Garth Mason's debut collection of poetry, the promise of ploughs, will soon be available from Clarke's bookshop in Cape Town - watch this space!

Launch of the promise of ploughs at David Krut bookstore

The launch of Garth Mason's debut poetry collection, the promise of ploughs, published by Dye Hard Press, took place at David Krut bookstore in Parkwood, this morning. Mason was in conversation with Deirdre Bryne, and read several poems from the collection.

the promise of ploughs is available for R250 (with courier charge, R350), from the publisher. Email cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order.

Launch of the promise of ploughs

The launch of Garth Mason's debut poetry collection, the promise of ploughs, will be launched at David Krut Arts, 151 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, on 24 October, 11am.

Newly published by Dye Hard Press: The promise of ploughs by Garth Mason

 

The promise of ploughs is the debut poetry collection by Garth Mason. At 64 pages, it also includes an essay on poetry and Buddhism.

The promise of ploughs costs R350, including courier to you door. Regret South Africa only.

Email dyehardpress@gmail.com to order. 

The proof of the promise of ploughs has arrived from the printer

The proof of Garth Mason's the promise of ploughs has arrived from the printer and it looks damn good!

Watch this space!

Forthcoming from Dye Hard Press: the promise of ploughs

the promise of ploughs is the the debut poetry collection by Garth Mason, and will be published by Dye Hard Press in September. The volume also contains an essay on Buddhism and poetry.

Watch this space for further details!

 

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.

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. 

 

 

 

He Said/ /She Said ... by Kobus Moolman

Kobus Moolman's poetry collection, He Said/  /She Said, was published by Dye Hard Press in 2024 and was recently reprinted. You can order directly from the publisher at dyehardpress@gmail.com. 

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.

Kobus Moolman's He Said/ / She Said is here!

The reprint of Kobus Moolman's He Said/   /She Said has arrived from the printer! He Said/   /She Said is a collection of 44 poems, originally published by Dye Hard Press in a limited numbered edition of 120 copies in 2024. 

He Said/   /She Said is available from Clarke's Bookshop in Cape Town, or from the publisher at cummiskeyg@gmail.com.

The proof of the reprint of He Said/ /She Said has arrived!

The proof copy of the second printing of Kobus Moolman's He Said /  / She Said has arrived, and it is looking super!

The first printing of He Said /  / She Said was limited to 120 numbered copies.

He Said /  / She Said will be available from Clarke's in Cape Town or the publisher.

He Said/ /She Said is to be reprinted!

Kobus Moolman's poetry collection, He Said/   /She Said, published by Dye Hard Press in 2024, is to be reprinted. The first printing of He Said/   /She Said was a numbered limited edition of 120 copies.

Watch this space!

Somewhere else in Cape Town

You can buy a copy of my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else, from Clarke's in Cape Town!

Somewhere else was published by the late Subhankar Das's Graffiti in Kolkata, India, in 2024.

32 pages.

The cover art is by UK artist Paul Warren.

Somewhere else at the Kolkata Small Magazine Fair

Photo: Santanu Roy

 The photo of a bit blurred, but here at the Graffiti stand at the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata, you can see Subhankar Das's widow Sabina, with various Graffiti publications on sale, including my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else. 

Poem by Gary Cummiskey in The Odd Magazine 31

 

The Odd Magazine 31 also includes a poem by Gary Cummiskey titled 'Moving Mindless'. You can view it and other poems in the latest issue of The Odd Magazine here.