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.

At the Little Magazine Fair in Kolkata

The Graffiti stand at the Little Magazine Fair in Kolkata. The stand displays some books by the late Subhankar Das, with two of them (one on the left just out of camera range) featuring artwork by the French artist and poet Pascal Ulrich on the covers. At front right is the last issue of Graffiti magazine issued while Sub was still alive, featuring one of my collages on the cover. 

View an Animal eyeball this Christmas

 

Respected and acclaimed South African poet Kobus Moolman calls Animal eyeball 'a fantastic visual and linguistic collaboration'. 

Animal eyeball is a free e-chapbook of seven cut-up prose poems accompanied by collages by UK artist Paul Warren.

It won't cost you anything to read, but it may take your mind to where it has never been before!

To access the book on Issuu click here.

You can also access and download a PDF version here.

Outside the cave at Christmas

Outside the cave contains a selection of 30 years' work by South African poet Gary Cummiskey, and is chosen and introduced by Kobus Moolman. It was published by Dye Hard Press and copies are still available.

Contact cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order, R160 a copy, and to courier to you door, R270. Regret South Africa only, unless you are prepared for pay for an international courier.

Pascal Ulrich material received

 

Received a load of material -- publications of art and poetry, postcards and an original artwork -- of French artist and poet Pascal Ulrich, from Robert Roman in France.

Last year I conducted a Dye Hard Interview with Roman about Ulrich's life and work.

Thank you, Robert Roman!

Outside the cave in hand

Good to see that Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, has landed in the hands of Richard Pithouse.

Outside the cave contains a selection of 30 years' work, and is selected and introduced by Kobus Moolman. It was published by Dye Hard Press and copies are still available.

Contact cummiskeyg@gmail.com to order. Regret South Africa only, unless you are prepared for pay for an international courier.

 

A Dye Hard Interview: Manthipe Moila: poetry as language of leaping

 

Courtesy: Salomè Dubois Han 

Manthipe Moila is from Johannesburg, South Africa, and holds a BA honours degree in English Literature. Her work has appeared in publications such as Tupelo Quarterly, New Contrast, Stirring, A Long House, 20.35 Africa, Agbowó, and Saranac Review. She was a Charles Simic Poetry Contest finalist (Hole in the Head Review) and a Best of the Net Nominee (Hotazel Review). Rootbound is her debut poetry collection and was published by uHlanga in 2025. Manthipe is currently based in Seoul, South Korea.

Your poems are autobiographical in that they draw on your own experiences, from your past in South Africa and your present, adjusting to a new life in South Korea.  What are your thoughts about confessional poetry, and do you prefer such personal poetry to more objective, impersonal work? 

I love confessional poetry – it is the reason why I am enamored with poetry at all. As for objective, impersonal poetry, I’m not sure that I’ve come across much of it. Poetry is art and objective art seems to me a bit paradoxical. As I’ve matured as a reader and writer, I’ve found myself more and more drawn to poetry that plays with language ... Read more.

Durable goods from 2012 with Subhankar Das and others

Durable Goods was (is still?) a micro poetry journal published in the US. Issue 65 contained poems by Rajarshi Chattopadhyay, Sharmy Pandey (who also did the cover art), the late Subhankar Das and yours truly.

Subhankar Das published two collections of mine - Sky Dreaming in 2011 and Somewhere else in 2024.

 

A leap into liberation? I telephoned God: a recording of poetry by Gary Cummiskey

 

Was it a descent into Hell? Madness?

A leap into liberation?

I telephoned God, a 40-minute recording of Gary Cummiskey reading a selection of his poetry and released by Sloow Tapes in Belgium, is available for download on Bandcamp.

Check it out here.

Cover art by French poet and collagist Bruno Sourdin.

Visit Animal eyeball

 

Respected and acclaimed South African poet Kobus Moolman calls Animal eyeball 'a fantastic visual and linguistic collaboration'. 

Animal eyeball is a free e-chapbook of seven cut-up prose poems accompanied by collages by UK artist Paul Warren.

It won't cost you anything to read, but it may take your mind to where it has never been before!

To access the book on Issuu click here.

You can also access and download a PDF version here.

Outside the cave still available

Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey, is still available from Clarke's Bookstore or directly from the publisher at cummiskeyg@gmail.com.

Selected and introduced by Kobus Moolman. 162 pages. Selected poems from 1990 to 2020.