tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60552799956519229812024-03-14T10:01:13.659-04:00LaffconLaffcon - "Get ready for it, kids, don't miss it!" trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-13681329621221545542021-05-01T21:51:00.004-04:002021-05-01T21:57:28.603-04:00LAFFCON5 Poster<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWor3fDtmmJRwx1Wo2JYGB_zMYV2AUf_HYvXLk295mm33UvNWrQDevoK6YDKgf29HBKZ0ndlDCQfmcl3LZOk-aYh1Gkm97XmfXkm9bOVIj0fQ0qMQM6xlmARBlzr52NhTubQrZZf9LoGU/s1575/LAFFCON5+Poster_SM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1575" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsWor3fDtmmJRwx1Wo2JYGB_zMYV2AUf_HYvXLk295mm33UvNWrQDevoK6YDKgf29HBKZ0ndlDCQfmcl3LZOk-aYh1Gkm97XmfXkm9bOVIj0fQ0qMQM6xlmARBlzr52NhTubQrZZf9LoGU/w426-h640/LAFFCON5+Poster_SM.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-43553037836498660142021-04-27T18:48:00.014-04:002021-05-01T21:47:52.140-04:00LAFFCON 5 - June 12th, 2021<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration_21.html" target=""><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="2494" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNz0Tok5HcLDumylYMBAnW8VhXMqHRRCW3xVt7At6ZqlSAoPxWH2ngXKnZ0q3twhQeRYgUX6Wzt6pNgkwhpHAx0XkUTrFFfgYo5nyIVRpTNlxFFUKEJVywA2XtmgtkYDm7_I0ormlCwQU_/w400-h135/Laffcon5_Logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote><div><div>“I am not alone?” Gee wondered aloud. “There are others and they discuss? Well, if we've got to have conversation, let's agree to keep it inside the frame. Oh, hello, Zee!”</div><div>“My name is Zed, for so it is called in the old country. Let's keep the frame moving, Gee, and anything we wish can be inside it. Look at anything through a frame, and it's a striking picture. There may be other frames, but we are limited to our own: space, time, motion, mass, and the vivifying principle, known to us through consciousness on its several levels, by means of the senses and parasenses, and aided by less than a dozen styles of thought. It's limited, but it's all we seem to have.”</div></div><div><br /></div><div>"Symposium", R.A. Lafferty</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>LaffCon5 is officially happening. Register <u><a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration_21.html"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">here</span></a></u>. Seriously, <b><a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration_21.html">register now</a></b>. If you do not register, you will not get the event link sent to you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Event link? Well, yes. This year's LaffCon will be online. June 12th, 2021</div><div><br /></div><div>There are admitted downsides to this. There will be no art gallery. There will be no free lunch provided by the Friends of the Library. There will be no hugging and hand shaking and no awkward group photographs. The immediacy and intimacy of talking closely with friendly fellow fans will be absent. </div><div><br /></div><div>Alas, due to the ongoing world situation, it has to be online for now. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's not all downsides. An online event has real advantages that an offline event does not have. We are able to collapse the distances between one another! All of the guests will be able to make it without any difficulty because they won't even have to leave their own homes! And you won't have to leave your home either. This is the year that you can come to LaffCon in your pajamas! Another advantage is that the online streaming part of the con will be much better this year (I'm too embarrassed to even go back and look at our earlier efforts) since the streaming will <i>be</i> the Con! There may be some technical glitches this year, but we're expecting everything to go smoothly. Another positive is that if this goes well, this could be the beginning of an online Lafferty media empire; why let Gene Wolfe have all the great podcasts?</div><div><br /></div><div>Gregorio has done a ton of work behind the scenes organizing this year's event. Here's the schedule:</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>LaffCon5</u></h2><div><div><i>10:00 AM – 10:45 AM </i><b>John Ellison: Lafferty, Addiction, and Ignatian Spirituality</b></div><div><i>11:00 AM – 11:45 AM</i> <b>Daniel Otto Jack Petersen: Lafferty As a Bioregional Writer of the Great Plains and Southwest</b></div><div><i>12 Noon – 12:45 PM</i> Lunch Break</div><div><i>1:00 PM – 1:45 PM </i><b>Gregorio Montejo: Lafferty, James Joyce, and Homer’s Odyssey</b></div><div><i>2:00 PM – 2:45 PM</i> <b>Space Chantey Panel Discussion: Andrew Ferguson, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen, Kevin Cheek, Gregorio Montejo</b></div><div><i>3:00 PM – 3:45 PM </i><b>Publishing Lafferty: A Roundtable Discussion: Chris Drumm, Greg Ketter, Bryan Cholfin</b></div><div><i>4:00 PM – 4:45 PM</i> <b>Jason Kehe: Who Is R. A. Lafferty? And Is He the Best Sci-Fi Writer Ever?</b></div></div><div><br /></div><div>That's an amazing line-up.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why should you care about any of these people? Besides that they're all glowing geniuses?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are their Laffertian bona fides:</div><div><br /></div><div>John Ellison, Gregorio Montejo, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen, and Andrew Ferguson are the Department of Lafferty Studies.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>John Ellison</b></div><div>Some Notes on Play, Time, and Catholic Social Teaching in R.A. Lafferty</div><div>Exploring Themes From Catholic Theology in Two Short Stories by R. A. Lafferty by </div><div>Excerpt from a Thesis</div><div>One Cannot Give Too Many Instances</div><div>Graced Narratives: Themes of Gift and Will in R.A. Lafferty</div><div>Some Notes on Culture and History in R.A. Lafferty’s “Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies”</div><div><b>Gregorio Montejo </b></div><div>Aeviternity: R.A. Lafferty's Thomistic Philosophy of Time in the Argo Cycle</div><div>“This Was More Than a Spectacle, More Than an Illusion, It was a Communicating Instrument”: R. A. Lafferty and Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Relational Form of Being</div><div>Eudaimonism in R.A. Lafferty’s Aurelia</div><div>“There Are Three Ways to Open a Secret Door”: R.A. Lafferty’s Bricolage Aesthetic</div><div><b>Daniel Otto Jack Petersen</b></div><div>The Epic of Man and His Friends or Slumming It With the Ontic Outcasts or May Our Eyes Be Big Enough To Take In the Nine Hundred Percent Gain in Everything!</div><div>Valery’s Really Eyes and the Parade of Creatures</div><div>Lafferty and His Monsters - Part 1: The Early Works</div><div><br /></div><div>All of the above essays can be found in <a href="http://www.feastoflaughter.org/">Feast of Laughter</a>, which is the passion project of editor <b>Kevin Cheek</b>, who deserves all of the praise you can possibly give him.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, please see Daniel's academic work:</div><div><a href="Ecomonstrous Environments in the Fiction of R. A. Lafferty and Cormac McCarthy">Ecomonstrous Environments in the Fiction of R. A. Lafferty and Cormac McCarthy</a></div><div><a href="https://www.academia.edu/33382408/Cowboys_and_Indians_and_Cthulhu_Ecomonstrous_Encounters_in_the_Fiction_of_Cormac_McCarthy_and_R_A_Lafferty">Cowboys and Indians… and Cthulhu! Ecomonstrous Encounters in the Fiction of Cormac McCarthy and R. A. Lafferty</a></div><div><a href="http://theses.gla.ac.uk/81615/">‘You Are the Old Entrapped Dreams of the Coyote’s Brains Oozing Liquid Through the Broken Eye Socket’: Ecomonstrous poetics and weird bioregionalism in the fiction of R. A. Lafferty (with a comparative reading of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian)</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Andrew Ferguson</b></div><div><a href="https://www.academia.edu/329007/Lafferty_and_His_World">Lafferty and His World</a> </div><div><a href="https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1571-reintroducing-r-a-lafferty-a-master-for-the-past-present-and-future">LoA Intro to Past Master</a></div><div>and other brilliant essays in FoL and other places</div><div>and some day the critical biography</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone should spend days reading <a href="https://ralafferty.tumblr.com/">Andrew's Lafferty blog</a> and <a href="http://antsofgodarequeerfish.blogspot.com/">Daniel's Lafferty blog</a> and <a href="http://www.yetanotherlaffertyblog.com/">Kevin's Lafferty blog</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Chris Drumm</b>, <b>Greg Ketter</b>, and <b>Bryan Cholfin</b> all published Lafferty in the past at a time when the "major" publishers had stopped caring. We owe each of them an enormous debt. Time has revealed that these men were the true Major Publishers That Mattered. </div><div>Drumm published: Four Stories, Laughing Kelly and Other Verses, Heart of Stone, Dear and Other Stories, Snake in his Bosom and Other Stories, It's Down the Slippery Cellar Stairs, My Heart Leaps Up, and more</div><div>Greg Ketter published: Golden Gate and Other Stories, Through Elegant Eyes, Half a Sky, The Flame Is Green</div><div>Bryan Cholfin published: Sindbad: The 13th Voyage, Lafferty in Orbit, and stories in Crank!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jason Kehe</b> wrote the best introduction to R.A. Lafferty published this year (ranked up there with the best published from <i>any</i> year). Check it out <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/who-is-r-a-lafferty-best-sci-fi-writer-ever/">here</a>. Jason Kehe has also written a lot of other smart stuff found here: <a href="https://www.wired.com/author/jason-kehe/">https://www.wired.com/author/jason-kehe/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>You've read this far. <b><a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration_21.html">Have you registered?</a> <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration_21.html">Do so now!</a></b></div><div><br /></div>trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-58681495383793324902020-03-23T13:52:00.005-04:002020-03-23T13:52:53.334-04:00LAFFCON 5 POSTPONED to June 2021<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;">LAFFCON 5 POSTPONED - LAFFCON 5 POSTPONED</span></div>
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Hello everyone,<br />
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LaffCon 5 is postponed one year until 2021.<br />
The tentative date is <b>June 12, 2021</b>. <br />
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We wanted to make this decision early enough for everyone to have time
to adjust their plans. Now you have 14 months to prepare your talks.<br />
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ready!<br />
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Stay safe and be well, everyone! See you in New Jersey next year.<br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;">LAFFCON 5 POSTPONED - LAFFCON 5 POSTPONED</span></div>
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Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-1182872545984828632020-01-14T12:43:00.000-05:002020-03-23T13:54:39.227-04:00LAFFCON 5 - June 13, 2020<div style="text-align: center;">
LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXoGhGao6LAWJIPUlBV0vQyjCLCKFA8ZDdEuo0n4Mh-_DSEtzELM7m0hGa07zGDvNqheFhXjcsFedOCsGsgT4W3Fiw8RJv6ot0imbsWspM1MEJlAygzIZ1dkr_vUQ_ACTcImiHBQ8rMSBU/s1600/Laffcon5_Logo_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="800" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXoGhGao6LAWJIPUlBV0vQyjCLCKFA8ZDdEuo0n4Mh-_DSEtzELM7m0hGa07zGDvNqheFhXjcsFedOCsGsgT4W3Fiw8RJv6ot0imbsWspM1MEJlAygzIZ1dkr_vUQ_ACTcImiHBQ8rMSBU/s400/Laffcon5_Logo_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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LAFFCON 5 is coming!</div>
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Some details (more details coming soon):<br />
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Date: <b><span style="color: #990000;">**Postponed to June 2021**</span></b><br />
Place: West Windsor Library<br />
333 N. Post Rd.<br />
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550<br />
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Note:<i> this is a new location, about 15 minutes northeast of the library in Lawrenceville.</i><br />
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Book to read: Space Chantey. <br />
It's available from Golancz in print NOW as part of R. A. Lafferty:
Three Great Novels: Space Chantey, Fourth Mansions, Past Master.<br />
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<a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/jacket/l/9781473213418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blackwells.co.uk/jacket/l/9781473213418.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;">- <a href="https://www.amazon.com/R-Lafferty-Novels-Chantey-Mansions/dp/147321341X?fbclid=IwAR34HeqgKdH0Skf2iUkivmEW2nhTO6z3XDtvyBKmu0kJSDUOEEuoiphHswg" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;">- <a href="https://www.alibris.com/booksearch?keyword=R.+A.+Lafferty%3A+Three+Great+Novels%3A+Space+Chantey%2C+Fourth+Mansions%2C+Past+Master&mtype=B&hs.x=23&hs.y=32&fbclid=IwAR2rVfIK1cGRc3AjlMm40Y-nxm3KASA8CM8r3OIUvTgDTIDVDqa3fy3bj_M" target="_blank">Alibris.com</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;">- <a href="https://www.booksamillion.com/product/A15803942915?id=7789619061925&fbclid=IwAR2XuTib3F3TOjSgL9pkmSuhAg1nw8MPQDK6hvwmc44Fd25oX8ys16ZTB2I" target="_blank">Booksamillion.com</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;">- <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/R-A-Lafferty/R-A-Lafferty-Three-Great-Novels--Space-Chantey-Fourth-Mansions-Past-Master/21868380?fbclid=IwAR31EpQNBfu0F7flf7oq-97uEm_hMQcci0WzTj5TuXFAfnPHK7zfm83_gDA" target="_blank">Hive.co.uk</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;">- <a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/R-A-Lafferty-Three-Great-Novels-by-R-A-Lafferty-author-R-A-Lafferty/9781473213418?fbclid=IwAR0Ipj-yTIkjkqo1N28f271Kbxo0jG_WhZ7T4kLoKD2rqjaSHjPXse1wdo4" target="_blank">Blackwells.co.uk</a></span></div>
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<b>Save the date!</b><br />
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Propose your talk.<br />
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Create Lafferty-inspired artworks for the gallery.<br />
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Invite your friends and family.<br />
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Read and celebrate Lafferty!<br />
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LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5 LAFFCON 5</div>
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Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-14407326989271443942019-07-18T14:33:00.000-04:002020-01-14T10:46:03.487-05:00LAFFCON 5 - Planning Begins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZCibmPneBXD_Tb1qbSOhKlmOh2HfP55HNv-IDnofqams5I6MXIK_xgn6ioxH2C7-hlcwDDReKl75SS7-j75u705ibK4S4cLQuw6i1SFM-gY3G53cXE_t0gSXGkpNV8r3FthELmb-YGTq/s1600/Laffcon5_Logo_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="800" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZCibmPneBXD_Tb1qbSOhKlmOh2HfP55HNv-IDnofqams5I6MXIK_xgn6ioxH2C7-hlcwDDReKl75SS7-j75u705ibK4S4cLQuw6i1SFM-gY3G53cXE_t0gSXGkpNV8r3FthELmb-YGTq/s400/Laffcon5_Logo_sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Planning begins for LAFFCON5, due to take place June 13th of 2020. </div>
Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-45717164282840884242019-06-13T09:54:00.001-04:002019-06-13T09:56:07.831-04:00LAFFCON 4 Audio (and more!)<br />
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<a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/laffcon"><img alt="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/laffcon" border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQenQLvMro_xIHgLfzTM1SHzJFCEKXhQGb6dLAyeCBvwczROh9mSKx1Ucz2BZNoNHqgda7hP-Us8b3wyJ87_2ex3P1_CKxmgM_MlVodNDbhePnas23GH8wx9eoUMsbx2yPoBO3ljlmwK6/s400/ClayTemp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Over at <a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/" target="_blank">ClayTempleMedia</a>, G.L. McDorman and Brandon Budda have shared the audio they recorded during LAFFCON3 and LAFFCON4. Also available from that page is the text for Matt Keeley's speech titled "Lafferty in New York: The Impure Science of Publishing," delivered at last weekend's event.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/laffcon">Click here to access the audio</a></span><br />
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The live podcast Glenn and Brandon recorded for The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast (recorded at LAFFCON4) focusing on RA Lafferty's short story "Nine Hundred Grandmothers" will be posted to their website in the near future.<br />
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<br />Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-80852840123103711812019-06-12T18:27:00.000-04:002019-06-13T08:13:08.928-04:00The Audifaxes<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s0ea5fkIT2aVutbOKKinIp80Skyn3W72/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img alt="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s0ea5fkIT2aVutbOKKinIp80Skyn3W72/view?usp=sharing" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="749" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGskkT_x7Ha8BF9yHdaVu_lmRV8qhyphenhyphenJfz86c5AUBnqDeWfxoyRKTn2-ZgX6b_JPWpwUEcG_ROh4Ei1nPAJIXevwVxvKYSgJfLRsZkY6HGSpC5NoUEYGhQNns9w9tJLqP6lc0jO70oyu5g/s640/Audifaxes_frontcover.jpg" title="The Audifaxes" width="396" /></a></div>
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LAFFCON3 was held on June 9, 2018. The "swag" that year gifted to each attendee was something truly special, a limited print booklet collecting short pieces R. A. Lafferty wrote for the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers' newsletter <i>Son of the Great Pagoda Insurance Company (or Son of the GPIC)</i>.<br />
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Credit goes to John Owen, who meticulously retyped the text from scanned photocopies of faded newsletters, Warren Brown for introducing the collection, and Gregorio Montejo and Anthony R. Rhodes for providing front and back cover illustrations.<br />
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Now, thanks in no small part to the generosity of the Locus Foundation, we have permission to share the digital version of this booklet online with the public.<br />
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We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s0ea5fkIT2aVutbOKKinIp80Skyn3W72/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Click here to view The Audifaxes online</a></span><br />
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<br />LAFFCONStaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03971106454994325469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-1272601473200059842019-06-04T13:25:00.000-04:002019-06-04T13:25:06.076-04:00LAFFCON in the News: The Lawrence GazetteLAFFCON was the subject of an article in the local Lawrence Gazette. Thank you Michele Alperin for the write-up. <br />
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<a href="https://communitynews.org/2019/06/03/laffcon-shines-spotlight-on-unique-sci-fi-author-r-a-lafferty/">https://communitynews.org/2019/06/03/laffcon-shines-spotlight-on-unique-sci-fi-author-r-a-lafferty/</a><br />
<br />Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-28824727271041389332019-05-31T12:37:00.002-04:002019-06-03T07:56:18.481-04:00E For Everyone: An Alternate Poster<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5ZkzFI-7ISEFi4zdQwRjnFdPHre1vHY5azFKDy2z9vtTdb2W49AxB4_8bXH9qo7FkA_8RhHAksSpu63RgEr1nO5wiARANCWgxsIaiEammRYGXbhATiBso492oqveWUyKnhDu7huD6Q7q/s1600/IMG_2902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="LAFFCON, R A Lafferty" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1265" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5ZkzFI-7ISEFi4zdQwRjnFdPHre1vHY5azFKDy2z9vtTdb2W49AxB4_8bXH9qo7FkA_8RhHAksSpu63RgEr1nO5wiARANCWgxsIaiEammRYGXbhATiBso492oqveWUyKnhDu7huD6Q7q/s640/IMG_2902.jpg" title="LAFFCON, LAFFCON4, RA Lafferty" width="505" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Robert Bee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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One week from tomorrow LAFFCON4 will
take place at the Mercer County Library Headquarters Branch, in
Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
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The library has graciously hosted all
four years of this event, coordinated by the wonderful Robert Bee [Rob was
recently promoted to manager of a different library location.
Congratulations Rob!]</div>
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<br /></div>
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When making this year's poster, we
needed to be conscious of the fact that the library hangs a large
copy near the main entrance, several weeks prior to the
event. For this reason, with <i>The Reefs of Earth</i> illustration
being a little on the spooky side (though, arguably, no spookier than your average <i>Goosebumps</i> cover), we voluntarily created a lighter, alternate version of the
LAFFCON4 poster. All the dead birds were removed, and irises were
added to the main character. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still creepy, but not <i>as</i> creepy.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We're looking forward to <i>seeing</i> everyone on June 8th. =)</div>
Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-83917158132314751442019-05-23T09:10:00.000-04:002019-05-23T10:06:03.076-04:00LAFFCON4 - Event Schedule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoXNO9Ol3WuzS5V5wTkw61GTdT4LnIX1oBEPqlpjERYq2vZ_9aHogvpv4sPSBZDovzqmDNNx8qbBOTmIfdZru3FtZNJHvx-S5hp2BDHrW9rhnRdt52hAgr_SB7AtLCeUg5W9PruESp9NP/s1600/LAFFCON4+-+Event+Schedule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="672" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoXNO9Ol3WuzS5V5wTkw61GTdT4LnIX1oBEPqlpjERYq2vZ_9aHogvpv4sPSBZDovzqmDNNx8qbBOTmIfdZru3FtZNJHvx-S5hp2BDHrW9rhnRdt52hAgr_SB7AtLCeUg5W9PruESp9NP/s400/LAFFCON4+-+Event+Schedule.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This year LAFFCON takes place Saturday, June 8th from 10am-5:00pm. Here is the day's schedule:<br />
<br />
<b>10am-10:45am</b><br />
"Virtue Forever Green: Twelve Years On the Trail of R.A. Lafferty." Speaker: Andrew Ferguson<br />
<br />
<b>11am-11:45am</b><br />
High Purpose of the Gallant Band: <i>The Reefs of Earth</i> Panel (Panelists: Andrew Ferguson, Matt Keeley, & Sam Tomaino)<br />
<br />
<b>12pm-1pm</b><br />
Lunch Break (pizza provided by the Mercer County Friends of the Library)<br />
<br />
<b>1pm-1:45pm</b><br />
A Live Recording of The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast featuring the short story "Nine Hundred Grandmothers"<br />
<br />
<b>2pm-2:45pm</b><br />
"Lafferty in New York: The Impure Science of Publishing." Speaker: Matt Keeley<br />
<br />
<b>3pm-3:45pm</b><br />
"They Nipped on Stolen Whiskey and Told Stories: A Public Reading." Orator: Gregory Feeley<br />
<br />
<b>4pm-5:00pm</b><br />
How We Read Lafferty: A Panel Discussion. Panelists: Kevin Cheek, Lissanne Lake, Nancy Leibovitz, Darrell Schweitzer, and Sam Tomainio<br />
<br />
<b>Afterwards</b><br />
It is a LAFFCON tradition that after the event attendees meet up at a local restaurant for food, drink, and rowdy conversation. Everyone in attendance is invited.<br />
<br />
Registration for LAFFCON is free and open to the general public. Click <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration.html">here</a> to register.<br />
<br />
Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-87115909132310006442019-05-15T11:43:00.000-04:002019-05-15T12:17:47.100-04:00Fresh Ink and The LAFFCON 4 Program Booklet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrH2-41HKhe0jdTfkfQIcnxphxPhVCpUm2luTPaplJeBTrQoDXsL5eyw-m6BAaCqeknSEiQh1Gbnwe4JbEZn4u72fX90t9TKXLIsCtr0gPz4sYdTvpiPZY5K2g_ulRyEHwdmu11z2tsnMx/s1600/thumbnail_thumbnail_Image-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrH2-41HKhe0jdTfkfQIcnxphxPhVCpUm2luTPaplJeBTrQoDXsL5eyw-m6BAaCqeknSEiQh1Gbnwe4JbEZn4u72fX90t9TKXLIsCtr0gPz4sYdTvpiPZY5K2g_ulRyEHwdmu11z2tsnMx/s400/thumbnail_thumbnail_Image-4.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LAFFCON4 Program Booklet Cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our shipment of the LAFFCON4 program booklets has arrived and we're happy with the results. Each attendee to LAFFCON, on June 8th, will receive a copy along with some "secret" swag.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4kULcfJ4kD1VQga7uGu63cp4wpuV3EvNV8LeXuJEpU7ETsBDALX-kqERTYFkUkz3pD89LF2f7t-93irLqcAHMCRqH6ujhBYgptkxdKMNMsw53pIooKcMKNj4q0KRQJ2S3Z-LO-LIPzD-/s1600/thumbnail_thumbnail_Image-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4kULcfJ4kD1VQga7uGu63cp4wpuV3EvNV8LeXuJEpU7ETsBDALX-kqERTYFkUkz3pD89LF2f7t-93irLqcAHMCRqH6ujhBYgptkxdKMNMsw53pIooKcMKNj4q0KRQJ2S3Z-LO-LIPzD-/s400/thumbnail_thumbnail_Image-3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full color interior artwork and photographs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is our largest program booklet to date (43 pages).<br />
This year's contents include:<br />
<ul>
<li>An Introduction by Anthony Ryan Rhodes, "LAFFCON: A Cure for Earth Sickness"</li>
<li>"Of Winding Stairs and Webworms: A Visit to Lafferty's Letters and Landscapes" by Daniel Otto Jack Peterson</li>
<li>An Introduction to "Continued on Next Rock" by Gregory Feeley</li>
<li>Winning poetry from the first ever Bagarthach Verse Contest</li>
<li>"Memories of Tarshish: The Game that Nearly Was" by Warren Brown</li>
<li>An Introduction to <i>Fourth Mansions</i> by Kevin Cheek</li>
<li>"How Lafferty Wrote" by Andrew Ferguson</li>
<li>And new works of art by Lissanne Lake, Yakov Varganov, Bill Rogers, and Anthony Ryan Rhodes</li>
</ul>
After the event the booklet will be made available online via Amazon for those who were unable to attend on the day.<br />
<br />
<br />
Registration for LAFFCON is now <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration.html">open</a> and free to the general public. Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-4322751566643755132019-05-02T20:11:00.001-04:002019-05-02T20:15:48.282-04:00Winners of the LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse Contest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68GDLwTwDADf3wJIlvGRo92DHk_wp2z49X0AUL4m_glEcWZIwYiW3Na9wDYHhMkwrp8HYZ6u2Mrp59PCiTyAgk-ZUvyukjUjykVjf7wK60ggM8r5ZxSfhN8hK09lcgvhEqy8662_HuVI/s1600/Verse+Winners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68GDLwTwDADf3wJIlvGRo92DHk_wp2z49X0AUL4m_glEcWZIwYiW3Na9wDYHhMkwrp8HYZ6u2Mrp59PCiTyAgk-ZUvyukjUjykVjf7wK60ggM8r5ZxSfhN8hK09lcgvhEqy8662_HuVI/s400/Verse+Winners.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This year marked
the first LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse Contest. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We received 30
entries in three months, many of which we found witty, glib, or downright nasty. We’d expect no less from poetry inspired by the Dulanty family from R. A.
Lafferty's novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Reefs of Earth</i>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Eventually, our
judges selected three winners to be published in the LAFFCON4 program booklet,
to be handed out free to attendees on the day of the event and later made
available for purchase via print-on-demand for those who could not be present
this year. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The elements of
the Bagarthach verse are: 1) funny or clever but mean spirited, 2) short, one
quatrain, 3) syllabic 8-9-8-9 per line (sometimes all lines are 8 syllables),
and 4) rhymed a-b-a-b. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Note: It’s been
argued that a fifth element exists, that of predicting/wishing bodily harm or
death, but for the contest rules we just couldn’t bring ourselves to include
it as a requirement.</i> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Congratulations
to our talented winners!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bob Newman</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">John Slaby</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">R. K. Wolford </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><ul>
</ul>
LAFFCONStaffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03971106454994325469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-77672308047396217762019-05-01T10:13:00.006-04:002019-05-01T10:14:16.849-04:00Registration Now OPEN!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyn0u46mmVo9bZOpPb_-Rn2PGxYJmrpIBJxYQ2rVJahYPuJJ37QaXB_xeRxQO8QmW-L5z1uf-AFPxXJ9WCNa2q8An2lm2-7mO3mrNXcqHum4We1isZrhxUZ8OZg-sURporO4J_QlI4wZbK/s1600/Open+Registration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="RA Lafferty, R A Lafferty" border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1381" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyn0u46mmVo9bZOpPb_-Rn2PGxYJmrpIBJxYQ2rVJahYPuJJ37QaXB_xeRxQO8QmW-L5z1uf-AFPxXJ9WCNa2q8An2lm2-7mO3mrNXcqHum4We1isZrhxUZ8OZg-sURporO4J_QlI4wZbK/s400/Open+Registration.jpg" title="LAFFCON4, LAFFCON" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Registration for LAFFCON4 in Lawrenceville, NJ is now open!<br />
<br />
LAFFCON encourages participants to register but it is not a necessity. We will turn away no one at the door. Registering helps us plan amenities like refreshments and Lafferty swag ("Is there such a thing as Lafferty swag?" you ask. Indeed there is.)<br />
<br />
Participants can register using the following direct link:<br />
<a href="http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=MCL&curID=380703" target="_blank">http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=MCL&curID=380703</a><span id="goog_23362630"></span><span id="goog_23362631"></span><br />
<br />
Registration is also available via the Mercer County Library website:<br />
<br />
1) Go to the library website at <a href="http://www.mcl.org/">www.mcl.org</a><br />
2) Point your mouse at PROGRAMS toward the top of the page<br />
3) Click ADULT PROGRAMS from the dropdown<br />
4) Change "All Months" at the top to "June" and Laffcon will pop right up<br />
5) Click Register and fill out the short form.<br />
<br />
If you run into any glitches during the process please contact us at <a href="mailto:LaffconStaff@gmail.com">LaffconStaff@gmail.com</a> and we'll make sure your registration is completed.<br />
<br />
LAFFCON4 takes place Saturday, June 8, 2019 at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the library, 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Learn more about LAFFCON online at <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/">http://www.laffcon.org/</a> Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-36178785843193542212019-04-19T12:24:00.003-04:002019-04-24T12:23:35.837-04:00LAFFCON4 - Poster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIFesXrWDN7mkZMyiWTSM-DmsSdOo1wSUyksnz50ga2MQIngjc902FbKNQUA8ny-k1fQHC-Wn6E_e58SFNEMgMtyb7VHewbxgqzICxMbK-o2oweVhRzm6us1GYDGcdlabg2pDQ1c_Jc2-/s1600/LAFFCON4+Poster_Official_SM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIFesXrWDN7mkZMyiWTSM-DmsSdOo1wSUyksnz50ga2MQIngjc902FbKNQUA8ny-k1fQHC-Wn6E_e58SFNEMgMtyb7VHewbxgqzICxMbK-o2oweVhRzm6us1GYDGcdlabg2pDQ1c_Jc2-/s640/LAFFCON4+Poster_Official_SM.jpg" width="426" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
"I'm turning livid in this bog,<br />
This woolly world that spooks and spites you."<br />
-R.A. Lafferty, <i>The Reefs of Earth</i> <br />
<br />
Come join us for the 4th annual science fiction conference devoted to
the life and work of author R.A. Lafferty. This year we will have a
panel on Lafferty’s novel <i>The Reefs of Earth</i>, The Gene Wolfe Literary
Podcast returns with an in depth analysis of the short story 'Nine
Hundred Grandmothers,' and there will be lectures on Lafferty's work and
his legacy. In addition, we will offer an art show<span class="text_exposed_show"> and free refreshments. </span><br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<br />
LAFFCON is a free event that takes place June 8, 2019 in Lawrenceville, NJ.<br />
<br />
Registration opens Wednesday, May 1st, 2019.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Deadline for the LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse contest is April 25, 2019. Click <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/2019/01/laffcon-bagarthach-verse-contest.html">here</a> for details. </div>
<br />Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-60893527134812365822019-04-11T09:54:00.000-04:002019-04-11T09:57:32.799-04:00Playtime: LAFFCON Audio from Years Past<br />
Over the years we've had a long and bounteous history of failed attempts
to either stream or record LAFFCON. Last year was our most successful
thanks entirely to Glen McDorman and Brandon Budda, hosts of <a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/the-gene-wolfe-literary-podcast" target="_blank">The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast</a>.<br />
<br />
Here are links to those recordings, for so as long as the internet will house them:<br />
<br />
<b>"Snuffles" Discussion </b>- Glenn McDorman, Brandon Budda, and Gregorio Montejo <br />
<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Snuffles_by_R.A._Lafferty_-_Live_from_LaffCon3.mp3">https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Snuffles_by_R.A._Lafferty_-_Live_from_LaffCon3.mp3</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Made Up Entirely of Glowing Geniuses": RA Lafferty's Radical Theories on Human Intelligence</b> by Andrew Ferguson<br />
<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Andrew_Ferguson_at_LaffCon3.mp3">https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Andrew_Ferguson_at_LaffCon3.mp3</a><br />
<br />
<b>Lafferty’s Zarathustra: Not to Mention Camels</b> by Gregorio Montejo<br />
<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Gregorio_Montejo_at_LaffCon3.mp3">https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Gregorio_Montejo_at_LaffCon3.mp3</a><br />
<br />
<b>Religion, Politics, & More: Past Master</b> panel discussion w/Robert Bee, Samuel Tomaino, Nancy Lebovitz, and Darrell Schweitzer<br />
<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Past_Master_Panel_at_LaffCon3.mp3">https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Past_Master_Panel_at_LaffCon3.mp3</a><br />
<br />
Also,
there is one great recording from LAFFCON1 (2016), a "<b>Lafferty Studies</b>" panel
featuring Andrew Ferguson, Gregorio Montejo, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen,
and Michael Swanwick.<br />
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/695mq3q238xhelx/ZOOM0001.MP3?dl=0" target="_blank">https://www.dropbox.com/s/695mq3q238xhelx/ZOOM0001.MP3?dl=0 </a>Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-71349618195201548102019-04-09T07:27:00.001-04:002019-04-10T13:27:04.539-04:00Return of The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1hO4T9wukgMMOeCLLqpdkG8kKWJcf2JwybwHUQsl6yIROXC087e4GgsbJotpq6O45A0ToGtrjIEHOvrvGgatBpqH-9SbTnV-mE6nr-Q12mNKY_h6-EZUQHdnrllLvT2Wlf-Paqk09JNp/s1600/Podcast+Advertisement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast, RA Lafferty, R A Lafferty, LAFFCON4" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="581" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1hO4T9wukgMMOeCLLqpdkG8kKWJcf2JwybwHUQsl6yIROXC087e4GgsbJotpq6O45A0ToGtrjIEHOvrvGgatBpqH-9SbTnV-mE6nr-Q12mNKY_h6-EZUQHdnrllLvT2Wlf-Paqk09JNp/s400/Podcast+Advertisement.jpg" title="LAFFCON, Gene Wolfe, Podcast" width="386" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }</style>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">LAFFCON4 takes place
Saturday, June 8, 2019. This year we’re jumping out of our chairs giddy at the return of Brandon Budda and Glenn McDorman,
hosts of The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast. They'll be recording a live episode, unpacking one of Lafferty's greatest stories.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The <a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/the-gene-wolfe-literary-podcast" target="_blank">Gene Wolfe LiteraryPodcast</a> travels through the works of the great speculative-fiction
writer Gene Wolfe one story at a time. Lucky for us they occasionally alter
course into other literary universes. Last year they dropped anchor outside LAFFCON with scholar Gregorio Montejo and gave a
thorough discussion of the R. A. Lafferty short story ‘Snuffles.’
Brandon and Glenn are solid pros, perfectly comfortable before the
mic, insightful and interesting (a quadruple threat to boredom.) Those
who were present had the story unpacked bit by bit. Like most Lafferty stories all those bits pile up into quite a bite.
-Personally, I can no longer look at a stuffed bear without imagining
the big bouncing demiurge. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This year Brandon and Glenn bring with
them a new Lafferty toy box to unlock and unload. For those who weren’t present last year, you can still listen
to the Snuffles podcast at:
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/forcedn/genewolfe/Snuffles_by_R.A._Lafferty_-_Live_from_LaffCon3.mp3 </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">LAFFCON is a free annual
conference dedicated solely to the works of author R. A. Lafferty. This year’s
conference once again takes place in Lawrenceville, NJ. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Also, here is a reminder that the deadline for
entry into the first LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse Competition is April 25,
2019. Winners get their curse...er,"verse" printed in the conference program booklet. So give us your most mean-spirited curse of a verse in a style
that would make a Puca chortle. For more information about the contest rules click <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/2019/01/laffcon-bagarthach-verse-contest.html">here</a>.</span></div>
Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-44871642073676222262019-01-21T12:07:00.000-05:002019-04-19T12:58:10.183-04:00LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse Contest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMr-mmRvpKtNcdMtNG1jUmdGAQOtMwnV5cd80Ny-m1c4G8Z2YbDCrqbyNrhgeePcOgiKIBArHaXUgh3sRk8PHc7H2XaS_JHT45oF4X9h4heRcFlhuniXLCKikU8q-d3uKXrZYGF5NPnve3/s1600/Bagarthach+Verse+Ad+-Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="1600" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMr-mmRvpKtNcdMtNG1jUmdGAQOtMwnV5cd80Ny-m1c4G8Z2YbDCrqbyNrhgeePcOgiKIBArHaXUgh3sRk8PHc7H2XaS_JHT45oF4X9h4heRcFlhuniXLCKikU8q-d3uKXrZYGF5NPnve3/s400/Bagarthach+Verse+Ad+-Final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
LAFFCON Bagarthach Verse Contest<br />
<br />
<br />
“To spew sweet venom on the page<br />
with tender wit and intonation<br />
We'll print yer text to all the rage<br />
and give you naught for reparation”<br />
<br />
LAFFCON, the world's only conference dedicated to the life and works of author, R. A. Lafferty, announces the first ever Bagarthach Verse Contest. Submit your own Bagarthach Poem and winners will have their verse published in the LAFFCON4 program booklet next to articles and artwork inspired by this year's main theme, The Reefs of Earth.<br />
<br />
The elements of Bagarthach verse are:<br />
<br />
1. funny or clever but mean spirited.<br />
<br />
2. short, one quatrain.<br />
<br />
3. syllabic 8-9-8-9 per line (sometimes all lines are 8 syllables)<br />
<br />
4. rhymed a-b-a-b.<br />
<br />
<br />
All submissions must be original works. No limit to the number of submissions. The verse can be on any topic.<br />
<br />
All submissions should be emailed to LAFFCONstaff@gmail.com. Entry deadline is Thursday, April 25, 2019. <br />
<br />
Contest entries will be judged by the LAFFCON Planning Committee (who have little expertise with poetry but a great deal of experience with clever but mean-spirited shenanigans).<br />
<br />
Winners will be published in the LAFFCON4 Conference Booklet, free to all who attend LAFFCON4 on June 8, 2019, and will later be made available for purchase via Amazon.com. No royalties are payed to contributors. However, each winner will receive a contributor copy of the booklet. Aside from publication in the LAFFCON booklet, all rights to the submission are held by the author.<br />
<br />
LAFFCON is a free event open to the public and there is no fee to enter the Bagarthach Verse Contest.Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-56391515236357748442018-11-15T10:20:00.001-05:002019-04-23T07:30:49.660-04:00How weird are the ways of Earth!<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I ask the same question," Henry said. "From my viewpoint, I'm the man, you're the alien. How weird are the ways of Earth! Or as it is written, 'Can anything good come from Earth?'"<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-R.A. Lafferty, <i>The Reefs of Earth</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, there is LaffCon. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Are we good? Has anyone in the Universe noticed yet? Have the Puca noticed?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We're definitely going to have this party again in 2019.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mark your calendars:<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">LaffCon4 - June 8th, 2019</span></b>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What will we do at LaffCon this year? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, </div>
<div>
<blockquote>
"It was in this big room that the dead people would gather and sit and talk when they were tired of lying in one position. They cracked old bones to get the marrow, and they drank corn beer. It didn't take much eating and drinking to keep them up, since they were no longer fleshed. They didn't eat much, but they sure did smoke a lot. It is not generally known, but dead people used tobacco for centuries before live people stumbled onto it. That had also been the case with the Puca. The smoke all came out through a hole in the side of the mound, and that caused the fog or haze.<br />
The children learned the interior of the mound. They could have hidden there from all pursuit, but they couldn't have taken their rafts there. They dug all over the flanks of the mound, and came out with bones of animals and people. They dug out two prime skulls which they set up on the prows of their rafts.<br />
The children formed enduring friendships with many of the old Indians in the middle of Misu Mound. They learned a lot about Earth people from them, how they are in their essence, what are the real things that are hidden under the daily exterior, and how it was in the old days. And they learned the right way to cure tobacco and to make pipes and how really to smoke up a storm."
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
-R.A. Lafferty, <i>The Reefs of Earth
</i></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div>
The best idea so far for LaffCon4 is that we sit and talk when we're tired of lying in one position. I'm fairly sure that old bones will be cracked throughout the day (all that lying and sitting and talking is rough on our old bodies). We'll get down to the marrow.<br />
<br />
If I can convince Rob to convince the library to change their policies, then there will be much corn beer and tobacco use throughout the day. Or perhaps that will wait until the evening. Or perhaps corn beer and tobacco have fallen so far out of favor on Earth that these things won't happen at all.<br />
<br />
Throughout the day, I hope that we will learn a lot (maybe even just a little) about Earth people. We may learn how people are in their essence. We may learn what the real things are that are hidden under the daily exterior. We'll let the old-timers tell us how it was in the old days. And maybe during the breaks or maybe if we stay long enough into the evening, we might have a how-to session on really smoking up a storm.<br />
<br />
What we definitely have right now:<br />
--a panel on <i>The Reefs of Earth</i><br />
--a panel on "Groaning Hinges of the World".<br />
--a lot of ideas!<br />
<br />
There are a couple of other possibilities in the planning stages, but nothing that is definite.<br />
<br />
If you would like to present a paper (or sing a song, or dance interpretatively, or recite the epic poem about Tulsa that you've been working on), then please contact us: laffconstaff@gmail.com. Anything Lafferty-related is welcome. YOU are welcome. Please join us.</div>
trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-20235188768036182332018-07-24T10:02:00.000-04:002019-04-23T07:32:28.139-04:00These Tribal Rites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nc2NCp5IgZATD3gC_jgZfBeBc72TW4_Mw0CbGxu4H1jE7PK-CEqrQa3zZvteqD8u4tn6apXb6al6498xfkDR5N1aeC4vuNSVwsrP6pqZxxFLtTkH5YxukmLZLg2bfFW4_CCNV9fCtgPV/s1600/20180609_141505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="1600" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nc2NCp5IgZATD3gC_jgZfBeBc72TW4_Mw0CbGxu4H1jE7PK-CEqrQa3zZvteqD8u4tn6apXb6al6498xfkDR5N1aeC4vuNSVwsrP6pqZxxFLtTkH5YxukmLZLg2bfFW4_CCNV9fCtgPV/s320/20180609_141505.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Glenn, Gregorio, Brandon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">photo by Yakov Varganov</span></div>
<br />
“Most of the panels were good. And a person who likes to ask questions could really let himself go on almost any of them.” -R.A. Lafferty, from "The Gathering of the Tribes"<br />
<br />
<br />
We're getting better at this con game every year. LaffCon3 was better than LaffCon2 was better than LaffCon1.<br />
<br />
One significant improvement that we made this year was in the quality of our audio recording. We haven't meant to be secretive. We fully understand that many of our fellow Lafferty fans are spread out across the globe and can't possibly make it. All of our attempts at recordings and streams have been for these fellows.<br />
<br />
We have one great recording from Year 1: <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/695mq3q238xhelx/ZOOM0001.MP3?dl=0" target="_blank">Lafferty Studies</a> (featuring Andrew Ferguson, Gregorio Montejo, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen, and Michael Swanwick)<br />
<br />
Last year's video recordings of our attempted live stream are too embarrassing to share. They can still be found if you search for them, but I won't proudly point anyone to them. The contents of the lectures/panels are great. The video recordings not so much. It turns out that Laffertian bi-location is harder than it appears.<br />
<br />
This year we enjoyed the presence of Glenn McDorman and Brandon Budda, the hosts of The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast. These two classy gentlemen put on a great live show at the con. They were also tremendously helpful in getting professional quality recordings of much of the rest of the con. Thank you, Glenn and Brandon.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned to their podcast feed for some great audio from the con, then stick around into the future as they dive into Wolfe's <i>The Fifth Head of Cerberus</i>.<br />
<br />
The "Snuffles" episode featuring our very own Gregorio Montejo dropped today.<br />
<br />
Check it out on their website: <a href="https://www.claytemplemedia.com/single-post/2018/07/24/New-Episode-of-The-Gene-Wolfe-Literary-Podcast-Snuffles-by-RA-Lafferty---Live-from-LaffCon">https://www.claytemplemedia.com/single-post/2018/07/24/New-Episode-of-The-Gene-Wolfe-Literary-Podcast-Snuffles-by-RA-Lafferty---Live-from-LaffCon</a><br />
<br />
(and/or subscribe to the podcast in the podcatcher app of your choice; I highly recommend that you do so.)<br />
<br />
Besides the audio being made available, here's a reminder that the print booklets are also available for sale to those who could not make the con:<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/LaffCon3-Ktistec-Press/dp/0998536423/">https://www.amazon.com/LaffCon3-Ktistec-Press/dp/0998536423/</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ECs8K7b3sLy-7RzyXTImhwqwXLU06xjGhCBvnJoerg63l2B_wb95riY6fvpy5Xafu8gUXinuZhr3pA02X1ZAmaLyY2w1CfqsVbNc98C5GQmTc0DMRskwpQfGh5vnsNoQTcFUunFBIHAl/s1600/51XnP-fQPdL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="RALafferty, RA Lafferty, Snuffles" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ECs8K7b3sLy-7RzyXTImhwqwXLU06xjGhCBvnJoerg63l2B_wb95riY6fvpy5Xafu8gUXinuZhr3pA02X1ZAmaLyY2w1CfqsVbNc98C5GQmTc0DMRskwpQfGh5vnsNoQTcFUunFBIHAl/s400/51XnP-fQPdL.jpg" title="LAFFCON, Laffcon3, R. A. Lafferty, Snuffles" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-53434631068675116772018-07-16T08:51:00.000-04:002018-07-16T08:51:58.499-04:00LAFFCON4 - Planning Begins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-d1goqbktAZrjyJOOdDni-7Y82eqRW9SuytbgOa4UrvaIiEQ8WGPMGLyqMUzHuaD50TpcZS2SjOF48wE3uLu03GKCrWCqbBDKTk5Zg_C0OkEDS-DfE9lCUNhdrmxmp8JrwaYg5OMufE6B/s1600/Laffcon4_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1600" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-d1goqbktAZrjyJOOdDni-7Y82eqRW9SuytbgOa4UrvaIiEQ8WGPMGLyqMUzHuaD50TpcZS2SjOF48wE3uLu03GKCrWCqbBDKTk5Zg_C0OkEDS-DfE9lCUNhdrmxmp8JrwaYg5OMufE6B/s400/Laffcon4_Logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
---</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Planning is underway for the fourth mutation of the one and only
conference dedicated to the life and works of author R. A. Lafferty. </div>
Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-5393946492708116792018-06-06T10:07:00.001-04:002018-06-06T10:12:01.042-04:00<br />
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<br />
We are now only days away from LAFFCON3!<br />
Will you be joining us? <a href="http://www.laffcon.org/p/registration.html" target="_blank">Registration</a> is still open.<br />
We have freshly printed and lavishly illustrated program booklets, free for all who attend, and all new one-of-a-kind Lafferty swag.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Andrew Mass
is producing a documentary on the life and work of author R.A. Lafferty.<br />
<br />
At LAFFCON this year he will screen 30 minutes of footage, which includes interviews with Harlan
Ellison, Michael Swanwick, Andrew Ferguson, and Gregorio Montejo.<br />
<br />
We're very excited.<br />
<br />
Andrew last joined us at LAFFCON1 where he screened a much shorter <a href="https://vimeo.com/127990267" target="_blank">teaser reel</a> and left us all begging for more.<br />
<br />
Well, more has arrived.<br />
<br />
You can follow the documentary's progress on its official blog at<br />
<a href="http://laffertydoc.blogspot.com/">http://laffertydoc.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
<br />Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-62917170426924698942018-05-09T07:17:00.002-04:002018-05-09T10:26:39.108-04:00LaffCon3 Program Schedule<h3>
<b>June 9th, 2018. 10am-5pm. </b></h3>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
10am-10:45am <b>"Made Up Entirely of Glowing Geniuses": RA Lafferty's Radical Theories on Human Intelligence</b><br />
by Andrew Ferguson<br />
<br />
11am-11:45am <b>Lafferty’s Zarathustra: <i>Not to Mention Camels</i></b><br />
by Gregorio Montejo<br />
<br />
12p-1p <b>Lunch Break</b><br />
featuring everyone's favorite free pizza<br />
<br />
1p-1:45p <b>Religion, Politics, More: Past Master panel discussion</b><br />
w/Robert Bee, Samuel Tomaino, Nancy Lebovitz, and Darrell Schweitzer<br />
<br />
2p-2:45p T<b>he Snuffles Literary Podcast: A live recording of the Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast </b>featuring hosts G.L. McDorman and Brandon Budda with guest Gregorio Montejo<br />
<br />
3p-3:45p <b>Biographical Notes II: Audifax O'Hanlon, Lafferty, Legacy</b><br />
Andrew Mass will be there with new footage. Andrew Ferguson will be grilled regarding the bio. Kevin Cheek of Ktistec Press will be in attendance and can update us on Ktistec Press plans. In addition to biographical and documentary discussion, this will be a time to discuss Lafferty publishing, past, present and future.<br />
<br />
4p-4:45p <b>National Kick-a-Pigeon Day Celebration</b><br />
The LaffCon Planning Committee would like to apologize for neglecting this important holiday the past two years. We plan to make up for it this year with strenuous pigeon-kicking. This is the unwinding part of the con, an informal panel involving everyone at the con. If you have anything to say about Lafferty, say it here. If you want to read some Lafferty, read it now.<br />
<div>
<br />
<b>Register here:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=MCL&curID=328195">http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=MCL&curID=328195</a><br />
<br />
Post-Con<br />
5pm Supper<br />
It's not free like lunch, but many of us go out to a local restaurant for food and refreshments after the con is over. Anyone in attendance is welcome to join us.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-84969223497962838222018-05-01T11:05:00.002-04:002018-05-01T23:54:37.104-04:00Registration is Open - LAFFCON3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMu_8cJZxrS7U3PFXZ7Gd0s88cA0OCRa2GCIFLxzREMBpuXiOaf7lMCcjoB2GTMJhLNUsNNY5SXpOQOUcP6rtZsbLfe8Jv_RdQmcJ_XO_KPNL8Q26xNUKyGeYPzHIasfFJ4NLu_mQkNY8i/s1600/LAFFCON3+Poster+2018_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMu_8cJZxrS7U3PFXZ7Gd0s88cA0OCRa2GCIFLxzREMBpuXiOaf7lMCcjoB2GTMJhLNUsNNY5SXpOQOUcP6rtZsbLfe8Jv_RdQmcJ_XO_KPNL8Q26xNUKyGeYPzHIasfFJ4NLu_mQkNY8i/s640/LAFFCON3+Poster+2018_sm.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<br />
Registration is now open for LAFFCON3, taking place June 9, 2018 in Lawrenceville, NJ.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Registration for Laffcon is encouraged but not a <i>necessity</i>. We will turn away no one at the door (d<span style="font-family: inherit;">oors open at 10:00 A.M.)</span>. </span><br />
<br />
That said, a <span style="font-family: inherit;">rough
count of those planning to attend will help provide a better conference
experience by helping us plan amenities like refreshments and Lafferty
swag ("Is there such a thing as Lafferty swag?" you ask. We're certainly
working on it.) </span><br />
<br />
Click <a href="http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/ekform.cfm?curOrg=MCL&curID=328195" target="_blank">here</a> to register<br />
<br />
Otherwise,<br />
You can go to the Mercer County Library website at <a href="http://www.mcl.org/">www.mcl.org</a>.<br />
Then under Newsworthy Events click the link labeled "LAFFCON3."
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Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-68591894253171224732017-11-28T15:06:00.000-05:002017-11-28T15:17:37.490-05:00The Beginning Shape of LaffCon3Greetings, fellow Lafferty fans & friends.<br />
<br />
There have been rumblings and rumors of actual LaffCon planning happening behind the scenes.
<br />
<br />
LaffCon3 is definitely happening. June 9th, 2018.<br />
<br />
Right now, here is what is on the table, all of which is still being discussed, none of which is final:<br />
<br />
--A panel on <i>Not to Mention Camels</i>. It is unfortunate that this book is out-of-print and expensive on the secondhand market. If you act soon you may be able to snag one of the dozen or so copies that are available at the usual online sellers for around $25-$35.<br />
<br />
A few of us like this one a lot and believe that it is worth arguing for and arguing over. There have also been strong hints that our favorite friendly LaffCon artists will be bringing NEW <i>Not to Mention Camels</i> related artwork.<br />
<br />
In a critical review of the novel (for <i>Delap's</i>), the wonderful Michael Bishop wrote,<br />
"...I can easily envision a literary cult devoted to the Lafferty persona, one distant day in the future, placing <i>Not to Mention Camels</i> at the heart of its author's oeuvre."<br />
<br />
I don't think we're quite a cult (we do need to develop more ceremonies and honorifics) and I wouldn't argue that <i>Camels</i> is at the heart of its author's oeuvre (<a href="http://ralafferty.tumblr.com/post/70874732451/interlude-archipelago-and-the-argo-legend" target="_blank">there's a good argument that that honor belongs to the <i>Argo Cycle</i></a>), but I do confess that Bishop was pretty close to prophetic when he wrote that in the mid-70s! :-)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
--At least one panel on <i>Okla Hannali</i>, which has in its favor the simple fact that it is the only Lafferty novel in print in the U.S. at this time. (As far as I know, the only other in-print Lafferty novels available anywhere in the world right now are the Japanese volumes; there is a Gollancz omnibus coming in June 2018 in the UK and there is work being done by Locus on U.S. releases, but nothing yet).<br />
<br />
This is the only Lafferty novel that I know for a fact has been taught at the university level, in Oklahoma History courses. It is regarded by many as an unjustly neglected masterpiece of American Fiction. Lafferty himself considered it a contribution to the Great American Novel.<br />
<br />
In his must-read essay, "The Strange Case of Raphael Aloysius Lafferty," the always wonderful Michael Swanwick evaluated <i>Okla Hannali</i>:<br />
"Often Lafferty has been too imaginative for his own commercial good, shedding wild ideas and strange whimsies with such abandon that many readers simply couldn't keep up. But in <i>Okla Hannali</i> the need to stay true to the historical facts and to the character of the Choctaw people results in a straightforward narrative in which the tragedies are irreversible, the joys undeniable, and the fate of virtually all the characters, minor as well as major, truly matters to the reader. For plot alone, this is one great book. As history, it's a revelation."<br />
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Terry Bisson wrote:<br />
"I believe his day is yet to come; that like Melville, Lafferty will be “discovered,” and his <i>Okla Hannali </i>will take its rightful place as one of the three or four truly great 20th century American novels. But that’s for others to decide."<br />
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I highly recommend that you <a href="http://www.choctawstore.com/okla-hannali-paperback-october-1991-by-r-a-laffert.html">buy a copy of the book from the Choctaw Store</a>. "The Choctaw Store is owned and operated by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma" and they approve of Lafferty's novel enough that they sell it in their store. I can't think of a higher compliment to a work of historical fiction.<br />
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--A complementary panel on "Lafferty's American Indian Stories"<br />
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Bisson wrote that "There’s a wise (or at least watchful) Indian in almost every tale."<br />
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That's an overstatement, but it still feels right.<br />
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I'd love to have someone present on the panel who actually knows what he/she is talking about in regards to midwest tribal cultures/histories, the shape of these cultures and their stories, and how Lafferty interacts with these in positive (and maybe negative?) ways. If anyone is qualified and interested, please do contact me.<br />
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--More Andrew Mass documentary footage? I hope so.<br />
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--Maybe a more general panel on Lafferty's "philosophy of history" and/or his "historical imagination" or some such. They're even harder to find than anything mentioned above, but maybe a panel on <i>Alaric</i> or the <i>Coscuin </i>books would also work well.<br />
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<br />
--We are also interested in just about anything Lafferty related that anyone is willing to bring to us. Consider this a "Call for Papers." If you've ever wanted to dig deep into anything related to Lafferty and share your findings in front of a room full of hardcore Lafferty nerds, this is your chance.<br />
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--We're open to other ideas. Please comment or send along your suggestions via email.trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055279995651922981.post-10205163876168033842017-08-08T11:27:00.000-04:002017-08-08T11:33:25.237-04:00Belated LaffCon2 Gratitude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIj9rISvH9sZvi9D7ODBuBJl7IqTd17whychcRdfCcfD4ZFqpiU-UyW4QhKAIOytL31Ho9x32yNPwR82vuYPuiHXf6_kbvzdCVqR8ZJwRfTTxhMSlXEzC_kI5K_fJtvViyzRccQrzEFzA6/s1600/19143347_10155418461811952_4793350869083751323_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1600" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIj9rISvH9sZvi9D7ODBuBJl7IqTd17whychcRdfCcfD4ZFqpiU-UyW4QhKAIOytL31Ho9x32yNPwR82vuYPuiHXf6_kbvzdCVqR8ZJwRfTTxhMSlXEzC_kI5K_fJtvViyzRccQrzEFzA6/s320/19143347_10155418461811952_4793350869083751323_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo by Yakov Varganov. See more of Yakov's photos of the day here:<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.1327845240601842&type=1">https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.1327845240601842&type=1</a>)</span></div>
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It's been nearly two months since LaffCon2. Yikes. Two months. The party was so good that it has taken two months to recover before I could even attempt to give an account of the day. Let's stick with that excuse.</div>
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So, just how was the party? Once again, it was marvelous. Thank you to all of you who came out and talked Lafferty all day long. Another year and another day of running around, I regret that I didn't get to talk to all of you, but I was always glad to see lively conversations happening in every corner during every break.</div>
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Thank you to Rob Bee and the Mercer County Library for hosting us. Rob does the work behind the scenes that makes this event possible, both before and during the con. Thank you to the Friends of the Library- Lawrence Branch for another free lunch. It is a great boon to be able to stay on site for lunch and continue conversations.</div>
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Thank you to Kevin Cheek for his love and enthusiasm for <i>Fourth Mansions. </i>His talk which started the day set a tone of serious engagement with the text coupled with good humor and true sense of wonder. This is how we should read Lafferty, on our own and with each other, with careful attention and a holy chuckle.</div>
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Thank you to Gregorio Montejo for sharing from his deep wells (yes, a bit of a pun there) of knowledge <i>and</i> wisdom. Gregorio has drunk deeply (continuing this fountain bit here) from a past most of us have either forgotten, forsaken, or never known, a previous world, different from our own, perhaps much more robust, a world in which Lafferty swam freely.</div>
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Thank you to Tairiku Ronin, Yakov Varganov, and (again) Gregorio Montejo for broadening our perspective on Lafferty fandom. The "Lafferty Tribe" may be a small one, but it is a truly international one, with diverse members from diverse cultures in diverse lands.</div>
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Thank you to Anthony Ryan Rhodes, Lissanne Lake, and Yakov Varganov for speaking about their own art and the art of others. It has been an ongoing joy for all of us to appreciate and benefit from their seemingly endless generosity and largeness of hearts in their work of illustrating Lafferty and their willingness to freely share their work with the rest of us.</div>
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Thank you to Darrell Schweitzer, Samuel Tomaino, and Kevin Cheek (he opened the day--might as well close it too!) for leading us in a discussion of a couple of Lafferty's best "planet-fall" stories. This was a fun and loose ramble on the stories and a perfect way to wind down at the end of the day.</div>
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Thank you to ALL OF YOU for being there and sharing in the day's activities. Attendance was down this year from last year, but the room still felt full, especially in the afternoon (you stragglers need to step up your game and get in earlier). The core group that was there last year was also there this year (we had more curious strangers from the library last year than this year, I think, but we also lost the presence of a few further out-of-towners who couldn't make it this year for various legitimate reasons). It was unspeakably satisfying to see the same faces again, to see the material evidence that we are indeed a real community, joined together in a common cause, a common joy, and committed to the act of doing this thing over and over and over again! </div>
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Speaking of doing it again, we have a date set for <b>LaffCon3</b>: <b>June 9th, 2018</b>. See you then.<br />
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(For those of you who couldn't make it to LaffCon2, there is no way for us now to make the day's lively camaraderie available to you. The best poor substitute that we can achieve is to at least have the LaffCon2 booklet available via Amazon--hopefully fully live in a couple of days--- <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998536415/">https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998536415/</a>.)</div>
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trawlermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540909996117280033noreply@blogger.com1