eventually one has to love gary cummiskey. he does not give up. he’s the kind of irascible soul that always draws trouble. something about his pugnacious nature attracts difficulties. if it can go wrong at a printer it will. twice. gary’s often stuck in traffic. the waiter dusts more flies into his soup. but unlike most people you’ve ever met who share this streak of disaster-attraction – cummiskey hasn’t got it in him to throw in the towel. you would have thought after years of publishing small press editions to little or no acclaim from the precarious south african literature “establishment” that gary would see the light and stop bothering. thank the gods he’s not that sort of bloke. gary persists. his persistency is the stuff of local literary legend. green dragon 6 is the best edition of his literary journal to date. and this volume about the late yeoville beat poet sinclair beiles is worth its weight in genetically modified stem cells. it keeps beiles alive. a collection of essays by the likes of alan finlay, fred devries, co-editor eva kowalska and gary himself, the book sheds shards of splintered, diffused and hazy light on the figure of beiles whose reputation is based largely on memories of his surly frame sitting truculently outside coffee society in rockey street, chain smoking irritably – has anyone ever read any of his poems?
in yeoville in 1994 to film “nice to meet you, please don’t rape me” i was introduced to beiles by my co-screenwriter peter j. morris, himself an equally taciturn, sour-bellied type. the two of them found things to grumble about. it was impossible for me to talk to beiles. he just seemed too far gone in a vinegary disposition exacerbated by the brutal disappointment of never having ‘made it’ (whatever that means to a poet). but this volume opens the man up. dawie malan’s exquisite essay “the trouble with sinclair beiles” resuscitates the poet, gives him a fragile, vulnerable soul – and reveals librarian dawie to be one of our most sensitive writers.
this book is essential. one day somebody will be collating a set of essays asking the question “who is gary cummiskey?”. he deserves better. he deserves to be lionised now.
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Kagablog: Great Art Daily
August 31st, 2009 @16:56 #
Hear, hear, Mr K.
August 31st, 2009 @18:42 #
Stem saam.
August 31st, 2009 @20:57 #
And I third this. On brief acquaintaince, I've never found Gary "irascible" or "pugnacious" -- a gentle soul is he and infinitely deserving of lionising.
August 31st, 2009 @21:42 #
I've known Gary for many years, and I would say that Aryan is absolutely right about Gary's persistence. Gary just keeps going. He should, indeed, be 'lionised' now for his impact as writer, poet and publisher, rather than one day in the future.
In the absence of Colin, who is away on conference, kind Gary is going with me to the Botsotso "Red Ants" launch on Friday night in Joeys, his flu permitting. I have a rude social activist poem in the exhibition. Rude to local government officials who don't deliver on election promises, that is :-)
August 31st, 2009 @21:45 #
Help, Ben - that's what happens when I try to get clever and to bold something...
trying again, without bold:
I agree with Aryan about Gary's persistence. He just keeps on, tirelessly, building SA literature. I think he should be 'lionised' *now* for his impact as writer, poet and publisher, rather than one day in the future.
In the absence of Colin, who is away on conference, kind Gary is going with me to the Botsotso "Red Ants" launch on Friday night in Joeys, his flu permitting.
I have a rude social activist poem in the exhibition. Rude to local government officials who don't deliver on election promises, that is :-)
August 31st, 2009 @21:48 #
Ingrid, you need to close the "strong" command. I can't show you because the code will be invisible in the comment, but when you insert strong at the front of text to make it bold, be sure to also insert /strong where you want the bold formatting to end (putting "strong" and "/strong" in those funky sideways "v" brackets).
August 31st, 2009 @21:56 #
Thanks, Ben - Editor. I did put strong inside crocodile-type brackets before and after, but I suspect my error may lie in leaving a space between the command and the word to be emphasised, and again after? Sorry- it's a learning curve.
I saw Sarah Frost this evening, covering the Denis Hurley book launch for this website, btw :-)
August 31st, 2009 @23:56 #
Ingrid, don't forget the "/" that needs to go directly in front of the second "strong". That signals that special formatting should "close" at that point.
Glad you ran into Sarah!
September 1st, 2009 @06:23 #
Hear Hear. Gary is the man. Nice review Aryan of the book and the man. Gary has been incredibly kind and supportive to me over many years. He is tireless in his good works for literature in SA. Also deserves like Gus a medal from the English Academy. Thanks to Gary for keeping on, keeping on. Aluta continua.