An unusual situation

 

A year ago today

It was a year ago today that Kolkata-based poet and publisher Subhankar Das passed on. I still struggle to comprehend that is is gone.  Just a month before he had published my latest poetry collection, Somewhere else.

Life is fragile. We are fragile.

Forthcoming from Dye Hard Press: Curry and Bread by Pravasan Pillay

Here's a sneak peak of the cover of Pravasan Pillay's forthcoming book, Curry and Bread, soon to be published by Dye Hard Press.

Blending memoir, humour, lists, slices of life, and vignettes into a layered collage, Curry and Bread is Pravasan Pillay's offbeat exploration of the food and foodways of working-class South African Indians – as well as his own food memories.

Watch this space! 

What goes up?

 

Chatsworth is still around

 

A reminder that you can still buy copies of Pravasan Pillay's much-acclaimed debut short story collection Chatsworth at Made in Durban.

Don't forget to telephone God at bandcamp!

 

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.

Animal eyeball is waiting for you

 

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.

Dreaming Princess

 

There must be an end of this, Julia

 

Proofreading Pravasan Pillay's Curry and Bread

The latest Dye Hard Press title, Curry and Bread, by Pravasan Pillay, is at the proofreading stage. Publication is scheduled for late May/early June.

We are almost there - watch this space! 

The water is rising

 

Gary Cummiskey reading at Off the Wall

 

Please enjoy this recording of me reading my poetry at Off the Wall on April 7. I read a selection of poems from my collections Thunder on the highway, Somewhere else and Outside the cave.

The recording can only be kept up for a limited time so you may want to downloadd it for future use.

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/YzcNoVvVbBvIG55-Pi3JKHOAHjL7s0m_HaLt81dIsYov0-nehXLvb3dF89aFO4Ra.GCLtPCwqOAtVAHR2?startTime=1744047157000

Passcode: E@%g5PDH

Sabina, Subhankar Das's widow, at the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata

 

Sabina, the widow of poet and publisher Subhankar Das, at the Graffiti stand of the Small Magazine Fair in Kolkata. At the front centre is a book of Subhankar with a painting by Pascal Ulrich on the cover.

Graffiti published my latest collection of poems, Somewhere else, in 2024, as well as an earlier collection, Sky dreaming, in 2011. 

I recently conducted an interview with poet and publisher Robert Roman about the life and work of artist and poet Pascal Ulrich.

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

What you see (when you're not there)