Welcome to the Feast of Laughter

Feast of Laughter is a celebration of the writing of R. A. Lafferty, the Oklahoma Leprechaun, the epitome of sui-generis, the spinner of tall tales, the creator of a modern literary mythos couched in Western, Irish, Native American, Catholic science Fiction. 
"Other writers are influences. Lafferty is a revelation."
                                                          - Noah Wareness

The Feasts

Submit to Feast of Laughter

Submit your works to:
We are looking for 
  • Original reviews and essays about Lafferty's writing
  • New for Volume 5: Reminiscences about how you first discovered and/or fell in love with Lafferty's writing.
  • Interviews about Lafferty
  • Original stories, poems, and artwork inspired by R. A. Lafferty
  • Reprinted essays, stories, etc. Note: Feast of Laughter is scrupulous about Copyright. We must have explicit permission from the copyright holder to reprint anything.
Deadlines:
  • Feast of Laughter #5: January, 2018
    • Expression of interest: by September 30, 2017
    • Final content: by October 31, 2017
  • Feast of Laughter #6: January, 2019
    • Expression of interest: by September 30, 2018
    • Final content: by October 31, 2018

Feast of Laughter, Volume #4 - IT'S HERE!


The Feast continues! Volume 4 features the first all-new Lafferty story to be published in 14 years, "The Rod and the Ring," as well as a reprint of the very important Lafferty speech "The Day After the World Ended." There is an abundance of new content, essays and appreciations, as well as reprints from science fiction giants, including Gene Wolfe, Robert Silverberg, Gardner Dozois, and Howard Waldrop.

Note: Because of copyright restrictions, "Scribbling Giant: An Introduction to R. A. Lafferty and East of Laughter" by Gene Wolfe and "Varieties of Apocalypse in Science Fiction" by Andrew M. Greeley are only available in the print copy of the book. This is a good thing. The authors hold the copyright on these essays and are in agreements with their various publishers that we do not want to interfere with. These arrangements allow us to publish material that would otherwise remain unavailable.

The Ktistec press is very strict about respecting the copyrights of the contributors to Feast of Laughter. This means we will never use your contribution in a manner not in accordance with your wishes. In other words, you can trust us to use your work fairly and correctly, so please contribute!
Buy it on Amazon
    Feast of Laughter, Volume 4
    Table of Contents

    At the Twenty-Fifth Hour – Introduction 
    • Introduction - It Must Not End
    The Shape of Things to Come – New Essays
    • Graced Narratives: Themes of Gift and Will in R.A. Lafferty by John Ellison
    • Lafferty and Milford by Andrew Ferguson
    • “There Are Three Ways to Open a Secret Door”: R.A. Lafferty’s Bricolage Aesthetic  by Gregorio Montejo
    On Thunder Mountain – Lightning Essays
    • R. A. Lafferty and the Praise of Power by Jonathan Braschler
    • An Incidence of Coincidence by Russell M. Burden
    • What is The Cranky Old Man From Tulsa Cranky About? by Andrew Childress
    • Baby Talk by Martin Heavisides
    • Ouch, My Foot! by Kevin Cheek
    • Forked Lightning: Two Micro-essays by Bill Rogers
    • Twitterview with Michael Swanwick by Stephen R. Case
    On Happy Astrobe – Reports from LaffCon 1
    • Report from LaffCon1 by John Owen
    • R. A. Lafferty and the New Wave  by Michael Swanwick
    • LaffCon Memory by Alan Reid
    My Grave, and I in It – Reprinted Essays
    • New Dimensions: R.A. Lafferty Introductions  by Robert Silverberg
    • Scribbling Giant: An Introduction to R. A. Lafferty and East of Laughter by Gene Wolfe
    • Introduction to “The Configuration of the North Shore” by Gardner Dozois
    • Arrive At Easterwine: Some Arrant Roadmapping by Sheryl Smith
    • Varieties of Apocalypse in Science Fiction by Andrew M. Greeley
    • Hooking the World on Lafferty By Kevin Cheek
    • Remembering Ray  Lafferty by Joseph L. Green
    • HUMAN by Dan Knight
    King-Maker – Reviews 
    • R. A. Lafferty—Aurelia (1982) by David Langford
    • Does Anyone Else Have Something Further to Add? by Stephen R. Case
    At the Naked Sailor – Interviews with Lafferty
    • Cranky Old Man From Tulsa An Interview With R.A. Lafferty  by Darrell Schweitzer
    • Maybe They Needed Killing & The Importance Of Happiness An Interview with R. A. Lafferty by Robert Whitaker Sirignano
    The Deformity of Things to Come – Works Inspired by Lafferty
    • Little Crocodile Who Wanted to Fly by Yakov Varganov
    • Three Mountain Works by Bill Rogers
    • The Carrion King by Logan Giannini
    • Eccentrexity by J Simon
    • I See Through All of Me, I See For Parsecs by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
    • Driving East by Stephen R. Case
    • Beginning or End of the Universe by Martin Heavisides
    • A Little Song, A Little Dance, A Little Apocalypse Down Your Pants by Robert T. Jeschonek
    • Mary Margaret Road-Grader by Howard Waldrop
    Nine Day King – The Master’s Own Work
    • Brief Thoughts on “The Rod and the Ring”  by Lawrence Person
    • Thoughts about Lafferty’s “The Rod and the Ring” by Darrell Schweitzer
    • The Rod and the Ring by R. A. Lafferty
    • The Day After The World Ended by R. A. Lafferty

    Feast of Laughter, Volume #3

    At long last, Feast of Laughter Volume #3 is here!

    Feast of Laughter 3 - Fall 2015

    This issue has the best content and production yet, including an interview with Harlan Ellison, correspondence between Lafferty and Alan Dean Foster, and two Lafferty pieces:
    • "Tell it Funny Og" an essay on the power of storytelling
    • "Configuration of the North Shore" 
    Download the free PDF

    Buy it on Amazon


    Table of Contents

    • Introduction
    • Introduction to the Boomer Flats Gazette by Dan Knight
    World Abounding - New Essays 
    • Ray by Rick Norwood
    • One Cannot Give Too Many Instances by John Ellison
    • Eudaimonism in R.A. Lafferty’s Aurelia by Gregorio Montejo
    • Outside the Cathedral by Kevin Cheek
    • Copyright, Copyleft, Copyfuture by Rich Persaud
    • Lafferty and His Monsters - Part 1: The Early Works by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
    • The Annals and Ace; or, The Textual History of an Historical Text by Andrew Ferguson
    All But the Words - Translating Lafferty
    • From Russia with Laff: A Very Brief Report on R.A. Lafferty’s Russian Translations by Niyaz N. Abdullin
    Bright Coins in a Never-Ending Stream - Reprinted Essays 
    • R. A. Lafferty: Effective Arcanum  by Don Webb
    • A Sound of Lafferty  by Roman Orszanski
    • R. A. Lafferty: The Function of Archetype in the Western Mystical Tradition by Dena C. Bain Taylor
    • Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne by Paul Kincaid
    • R.A. Lafferty, Sir Thomas More, and the Problems of Utopia by Robert Bee
    • Introduction to R.A. Lafferty’s The Fall of Rome by Darrell Schweitzer
    • Introduction to The Devil Is Dead by Charles Platt
    In Deepest Pen and Ink - Laffertian Illustration 
    • Hound Dog’s Ear illustrations by Lissanne Lake
    Through Other Eyes - Reviews 
    • The Man Who Made Models - Review by Stephen Case
    • Past Master by R. A. Lafferty by MPorcius
    • Utopia by Thomas  More by MPorcius
    • R.A. Lafferty — Apocalypses (1977) by Gene McHugh
    Club Mentiros - Works inspired by Lafferty 
    • Three Poems by Bill Rogers
      • DOMOVOI
      • THE GREEN MORNING
      • MARTINMAS WEEK
    • The Lost Children of Boo-Hay World 
    • by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
    • Who Was That?  by Martin Heavisides
    • People are Strange by Christopher Blake
    • Justice by Dan Knight
    • An Afterword to “Justice” by Gregorio Montejo
    • Bone Girl by J Simon
    • Barstone by Stephen R. Case
    Correspondence with the Cranky Old Man from Tulsa 
    • Letter from Alan Dean Foster to R. A. Lafferty
    • R. A. Lafferty’s Reply to Alan Dean Foster
    • Letter from Alan Dean Foster Nominating Lafferty for the Arrell Gibson Life Achievement Award
    Guesting Time - Interview 
    • An Interview with Harlan Ellison by Andrew Mass
    The Man With the Aura - Lafferty's own words! 
    • Don’t Just Read Lafferty, Be Lafferty! A Lafferty Mask Template by Anthony Ryan Rhodes
    • Tell It Funny, Og by R. A. Lafferty
    • Configuration Of The North Shore by R. A. Lafferty
    All the People - Those who contributed 
      • List of Contributors


      Laff Mask

      Don't just read Lafferty, be Lafferty:

      Issue #3 - a Call for Action

      The time is upon us to start assembling Feast of Laughter Issue 3.

      We already have some amazing stories, essays, artwork, interviews, and reviews lined up. We need YOUR contribution. We need your original stories, your original essays, your original artwork, your original reviews, and your old and ancient and oft reprinted versions of the above. And if you've seen something online about Lafferty that you think ought to be reprinted, by all means suggest it. Try to reach out and get permission from the author to reprint it. The only real guideline is this: Share your love of Lafferty!

      Deadlines:

      • Expression of Interest: Saturday, September 19, 2015 
      • Content complete: Sunday, October 11, 2015
      • Publication: Saturday, November 7, 2015 (Lafferty's 101st birthday!)

      Contact:

      Email editor@feastoflaughter.org with all your ideas, submissions, stories, artwork, and daydreams of things you'd love to say about R. A. Lafferty, and even requests. 

      Share and be published! Join the growing phenomenon that is Feast of Laughter!


      Issue #2

      Feast of Laughter Issue #2 is here!
      Feast of Laughter 2 - Spring 2015
      This issue has more of everything that made Feast of Laughter Issue #1 great. 

      Download the free PDF

      Inventions Bright and New: Original Essays

      Working With Ray: My Experiences with R.A. Lafferty by Greg Ketter
      Ray’s Recycling Rewards Program by John Owen
      Valery’s Really Eyes and the Parade of Creatures by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
      “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 by Gregorio Montejo
      Through a Glass Darkly by Craig May
      Exploring Themes From Catholic Theology in Two Short Stories by R. A. Lafferty by John Ellison
      Late Light by Rich Persaud
      Lafferty’s Monkey by Clinton Reid Claussen
      Lafferty: An Appreciation by Patrick May
      Question: Why? Excuse: Because Monsters by Rich Persaud

      All the People: International Fandom

      Seven-Story Dream on Terschelling by Peter Sijbenga
      The Lafferty Centennial In Japan by Kenji Matsuzaki
      Continued on Next Book by 7 Japanese Laffertians
      Russia Discovers R. A. Lafferty by Sergei Sobolev and Yakov Varganov

      Those Who Know Everything: Interviews

      An Interview with Nat! by Kevin Cheek

      Oh, Whatta Ya Do When The Well Runs Dry: Reprinted Essays

      Despair and the Duck Lady by Michael Swanwick
      R. A. Lafferty—the secret sci-fi genius more than ready for a comeback by David Barnett
      Twice Beheaded: R. A. Lafferty’s Thomas More by Anne Lake Prescott
      Excerpt from a Thesis by John Ellison
      A Richness of Endings by Dan Knight
      Introduction to More than Melchisedech by Robert Whitaker Sirignano
      On Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas by Andrew Ferguson

      You’re On The Right Track, Kid: Reviews

      R. A. Lafferty Spins a Yarn by Keith Purtell
      Strange Doings - a review by Stephen R. Case
      Oklahoma Gothic by Martin Heavisides
      Arrive at Easterwine—a brief review by Kevin Cheek
      Task Force Fifty-Eight and a Half by Heywood Reynolds
      Iron Tears - a review by Darrell Schweitzer
      Iron Tears - a review by Don Webb

      The Emperor’s Shoestrings: Works Inspired by R. A. Lafferty

      Land of the Great Horses by Peter Sijbenga
      The Honking Worm and the Gorilla Cheetah by Bill Rogers
      - Honking Worm artwork here
      The Waltz Macabre by Logan Giannini
      Fourteenth Chambers by Noah Wareness
      A Fisherman’s Tune by Daniel Otto Jack Petersen
      What I Wrote for Andronicus by Stephen R. Case
      Willow Beeman by Howard Waldrop and Steven Utley

      Primary Education: Lafferties

      An Interview with R. A. Lafferty by Tom Jackson
      Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas by R. A. Lafferty


      Issue #1

      What great people are saying about Feast of Laughter Issue #1:

      "I hit the first link and bought the book." -Neil Gaiman

      "The latest, and in many ways the most important, of the Lafferty centennial tributes". -Andrew Ferguson


      In celebration of  Ray's 100th birthday, November 7, 2014, we (the Ktistec Press) have published the First Edition of Feast of Laughter!  

      Feast of Laughter, Issue 1

      The Magazine 
      Download the full magazine: