Archived News from the Poison Pie Publishing House.

News Updates From 2015:

 

December 19, 2015
The Augur in the Arbor Inn
In 2015, David J. Keffer has finished the writing of a novel, a post-existential fantasy generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process, titled, The Augur in the Arbor Inn. The novel provides an investigation of our modern relationship with the principles of evolution, as espoused by Darwin, through the form of a narrative. Because the novel falls outside established genres, it is difficult to find a good home for it. Attempts to engage traditional representatives of and liaisons to the publishing industry have been met with indifference, if acknowledged at all. As such, a link to an open query letter describing the unpublished manuscript has been posted here. Interested parties are welcome to contact the editor. In the absence of broader interest, The Augur in the Arbor Inn was printed in a limited, private edition of ten.

 

December 7, 2015
Radio Show: Voices from the Golden Age of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation
As a culmination of the Fall semester, 2015 offering of The Golden Age of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation at the University of Tennessee, the instructor of the course, David Keffer, collaborated with a student in the course, Amanda Fuchs, for an evening of radio showcasing one track from twelve varied practitioners of non-idiomatic improvisation. The show aired On December 7, 2015 on WUTK (90.3 FM). Supposedly, there is a streaming recording of the show available on the web. If we can locate it, we will post a link to it. In lieu of the music, a copy of the associated document listing the music played and providing a quote for each musician, which hints at their underlying motivations, is archived here.

 

December 5, 2015
An Encounter with the Angel of Winter Morning Fog
We provide a link describing an encounter that occured with the Angel of Winter Morning Fog.

 

October 30, 2015
Experimental Laboratory
The population of the experimental laboratory continues to grow with the arrival of new residents. These bird faeries of East Tennessee have migrated to this page to pass a mild winter. All of the puppets are designed by Ruth Marie Keffer.

 

October 20, 2015
Big Ears Festival
Knoxville, Tennessee is not only the home to the Poison Pie Publishing House, but also has in recent years hosted the the Big Ears Music Festival, which has brought such luminaries as Keiji Haino (Dark Shaman of the Japanese Experimental Underground), Pauline Oliveros (American Deep Listening Drone Accordionist and Electronic Music Pioneer), and Christian Fennesz (Austrian Electronic Champion of the Ambient Glitch) to perform at local establishments in Knoxville. The line-up for the Big Ears Festival slated for March 31, 2016 through April 2, 2016 was announced today and includes, among many others, heroes of historical significance from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Anthony Braxton and Wadada Leo Smith.

Of relevance to the Poison Pie Publishing House, in-house author, David Keffer, teaches a course at the University of Tennessee (also in Knoxville), titled, The Golden Age of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation, which features (or has featured in past offerings) all five of the musicians listed above. In the version of the course offered this semester students have already pondered the cryptic diagrams and Joyce-esque text of Anthony Braxton's 1985 manifesto on music, culture and philosophy, Tri-Axium Writings, from no lesser source than the original, self-published, spiral-bound, 1705 pages in three-volume publication.

Through the virtues of the inter-library loan program, the class is also able to examine first hand from the library of the Julliard School of Music, the original, self-published pamphlet, Notes (8 Pieces) Source A New World Music: Creative Music by (Wadada) Leo Smith from 1973. This work too documents the juxtaposition of social justice, philosophy and musical creativity taken in unconventional directions.

Featuring a revised ticketing structure that allows festival entry at multiple cost points, the 2016 version of the Big Ears Festival should offer local residents and visitors alike the opportunity to expose themselves to forward-looking music from thinking practitioners, old and new.

 

October 17, 2015
Experimental Laboratory
A new page in the gallery section of the website of the Poison Pie Publishing House has recently appeared, called the experimental laboratory. Currently it contains flyers featuring a series of bird faeries of Tennessee designed by Ruth Marie Keffer.

 

September 26, 2015
A Practical Introduction to Applied Statistics & Numerical Methods
A previously dormant technical branch of the Poison Pie Publishing House has come to life with the publication of a pair of technical monographs, intended to be used as textbooks in a semester-long course on applied statistics and numerical methods. Prof. David Keffer has taught just such a course to undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee since the turn of the century. A Practical Introduction to Applied Statistics for Materials Scientists & Engineers introduces students to the fundamental concepts, mathematical framework and engineering applications of statistics. A Practical Introduction to Numerical Methods for Materials Scientists & Engineers introduces students to the algorithms, implementation and use of standard computational techniques to solve systems of linear and nonlinear algebraic and ordinary differential equations, among other tasks.

 

September 19, 2015
Historic Parallel for Same-Sex Marriage
A guest column by David J. Keffer has been published today in the Knoxville News Sentinel, titled, "Historic Parallel for Same-Sex Marriage", which provides an argument in support of same-sex marriage based on the historical case in the United States of mixed-race marriage. The link to the column on the News Sentinel is here.

 

September 7, 2015
One More Unexpected Promotional Flyer for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House produced a series of nine promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. However, the moon of early morning September 4, 2015 had other plans. Here is the tenth and, as far as we know, last instalment.

 

September 6, 2015
Ninth in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The Poison Pie Publishing House presents the final entry in a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the ninth instalment, featuring the narrarator, M. Anxo, and his traveling companion, Execrabilia.

 

September 5, 2015
Eighth in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the eighth instalment.

 

September 4, 2015
Seventh in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the seventh instalment, featuring heroic adventurers.

 

September 3, 2015
Sixth in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the sixth instalment, featuring robots.

 

September 2, 2015
Fifth in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the fifth instalment, featuring official animals of the state of Tennessee.

 

September 1, 2015
Fourth in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the fourth instalment. Incidentally, Pope Francis has declared September 1, 2015 a day for the "Care of Creation", highlighting the threat of global climate change to all of the population of the Earth, especially the poor. Thus our promotional flyer features elementals of earth and sky.

 

August 31, 2015
Third in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the forthcoming illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the third instalment, featuring M. Anxo and his traveling companion, Execrabilia.

 

August 30, 2015
Second in the Series of Promotional Flyers for A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The art department of the Poison Pie Publishing House has produced a series of promotional flyers for the forthcoming illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. Here is the second instalment, featuring angels.

 

August 29, 2015
A Bestiary of East Tennessee Promotional Flyers
The art department has produced the first in a series of promotional flyers for the forthcoming illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. They have deviated greatly from their previously established formats for such flyers from the Poison Pie Publishing House, which are collected in a gallery.

 

August 23, 2015
A Bestiary of East Tennessee Previews


We have added several two-page spreads from the forthcoming bestiary from the Poison Pie Publishing House. To our pleasant surprise, the book will be released in time for the holidays. Follow this link to see all the previews.

 

August 16, 2015
Monsieur Anxo
It is with great pleasure that the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House introduces M. Anxo, an insurance clerk from the distant city of Sigil. M. Anxo fulfills the role of narrator in the forthcoming illustrated book, A Bestiary of East Tennessee, with commendable aplomb. M. Anxo has made a previous appearance as the primary host for the party of adventurers in the fantasy role-playing module, Numismatists of the Great Wheel (2014). There are unsubstantiated rumors that he has a cameo role in the forthcoming novel, The Augur in the Arbor Inn. It is held by tradition of the Anxo family that an ancient forebear mingled their blood with that of angels, resulting today in a residual genetic trace can yet be found in their luminous gray eyes and dignified disposition.

 

August 12, 2015
A Bestiary of East Tennessee
The Poison Pie Publishing House is proud to announce a new illustrated book to be released before the end of the year, A Bestiary of East Tennessee. M. Anxo presents a bestiary of the creatures, mundane and exotic, dwelling in East Tennessee, illustrated in felt by the Keffer family. This book combines our love for felt fingerpuppets, the wild places of Tennessee and books about monsters! This bestiary covers a wide range of creatures, from the Tennessee state animal, the raccoon, to a spider demon who spins a convoluted web best described as a highly compromised form of capitalist meritocracy rampant in the state! Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

 

August 8, 2015
Four Tennessee Finger Puppets!
Although not much news has come forth recently regarding the illustrated book under development, work still is underway. Today we reveal a new broadside titled, 4 Tennesseans. These puppets and others presented in the broadside page of the gallery are being created for a follow-up illustrated book to the The Faerienomicon. A title has been identified but has yet to be announced. Stay tuned (erratically) for more news.

 

August 5, 2015
Once in a Blue Moon...
The blue moon of July 31, 2015 appeared not especially blue. Nevertheless, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House wandered outside during the evening and photographed that portion of its form, which it was willing to reveal. It seems an auspicious time now to announce that David Keffer has completed the writing of a new novel, The Augur in the Arbor Inn: A Tautological Myth of Evolution. What manner of book is it? Need you ask? It is, of course, a post-existential fantasy generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process. A few more details are posted here. For a view of the far side of the moon, check this out.

 

August 2, 2015
Role-Playing Game Resources
The staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House embraces fantasy role-playing games as an idiom that engages both improvisation and creativity as ubiquitous birthrights of people of all ages. Recently collected on this page are links to RPG resources from the Poison Pie Publishing House.

 

July 17, 2015
A Prayer Book for the Damned
Without fanfare or promotion of any kind, the Poison Pie Publishing House quietly released A Prayer Book for the Damned, by David J. Keffer. This prayer book contains twenty-seven prayers, written in a span of three months by a most unlikely author. The prayers deviate from tradition primarily in that they are more open in acknowledging the uncertainties, reservations and short-comings of the one making the prayer. Included in this volume are "A Prayer for the Indifferent", "A Prayer for Drunkards", "A Prayer for Perpetual Malcontents" and twenty-four others. The prayer book is dedicated to Fr. Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist fathers, in support of his cause for canonization.

A quaint paperback version of the book (70 pages, ISBN: 978-1503052253) is available for purchase via amazon.com and createspace.com in the shop. The prayers are available electronically free of charge.

 

June 29, 2015
On Mysteries Mortal and Divine
The summer solstice came and went and we, here at the Poison Pie Publishing House, did not mark it, so caught up were we in the creation of our next non-idiomatic, improvisational fantasy (with a title that has been decided upon but not publicly announced). So, although that work is not yet done, we found a moment to catch our breath and belatedly celebrate the ancient pagan holiday. To this end, we have posted a new poem/prayer, On Mysteries Mortal and Divine. A link to a page with free, anonymous access to the full text is here.

 

May 21, 2015
Independent Book Publishers Association
The Poison Pie Publishing House has become a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). Established in 1983, the IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the indie publishing community through advocacy, education, and tools for success. With nearly 3,000 members, IBPA is the largest publishing trade association in the U.S.

 

May 17, 2015
Heroes of the Mushroomnomicon
The Mushroomnomicon is an illustrated book, combining the three crafts of felt fingerpuppets, local photography and children's narrative, written collaboratively by the Keffer family of East Tennessee and published by the Poison Pie Publishing House in the summer of 2013. This book relates the exploits of a party of six heroic adventurers as they seek to reclaim The Mushroomnomicon, a tome of elder mycological lore, from forces allied with the dragon of the White Wasteland. Additional representations of the party continue to turn up. A page showing many of these representations has been updated here. Complete descriptions of the members of the party rendered in an RPG format are directly available here.

 

May 15, 2015
A Literature of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation is reprinted
An International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living has chosen to reprint two documents on the subject of the application of the non-idiomatic improvisational creative process to writing. The original article, "A Literature of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation", published by the Poison Pie Publishing House on November 11, 2013 is reprinted in issue 5. The popular one-page summary, "A Literature of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation: A Condensed Statement", published by the Poison Pie Publishing House on April 2, 2014 is reprinted in issue 6. The IJEML is an open source journal; all issues are available for free, anonymous download in pdf format.

 

May 11, 2015
Post-Existential Fantasy: A Definition
The fourth issue of An International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living is published. This letter defines the term "post-existential fantasy" and investigates its application to literature. On a relevant note, the Poison Pie Publishing House describes itself as "an independent publisher specializing in post-existential fantasy generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational writing process."

 

April 12, 2015
Little Free Library
Residents of the local neighborhood in which the Poison Pie Publishing House is located constructed a Little Free Library. The Little Free Library is a program for creating free micro-sized local libraries, where patrons can freely take and leave books. The Poison Pie Publishing House donated several illustrated books to the library. In this photo, Joseph Keffer, co-author of The Mushroomnomicon and other books from the PPPH is putting books in the library.

 

April 10, 2015
Spring Thoughts in Pursuit of the Improvised Novel
The third issue of the International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living has been published. This issue features a letter from David Keffer discussing the potential of the improvisational creative process in generating a novel.

 

April 4, 2015
Promotional Flyer for Jacob's Dream
A promotional flyer for the new illustrated book from the Poison Pie Publishing House, Jacob's Dream, is now available. All readers are encouraged to distribute this flyer freely.

 

April 3, 2015
Jacob's Dream is Published!
The Poison Pie Publishing House announced the publication of Jacob's Dream, a collaborative book featuring the artwork of Ruth Marie Keffer and the text of David J. Keffer. Jacob's Dream is an eclectic collection of illustrations, imaginative descriptions and prayers associated with the various angels observed ascending and descending the ladder in Jacob's vision from Genesis 28:12. One angel is selected from each rung of the ladder. Included are the apocryphal angel, the child angel and the angel of birds. The prayers include A Prayer for Abandoning a Path of Error, A Prayer for Accepting our Roles, A Prayer for Those who Dwell in Penumbra and ten others.

A paperback version of the book (36 pages, ISBN: 1511500778) is available for purchase via amazon.com and createspace.com in the shop.

 

March 22, 2015
Demographics in a Modern Music Festival
The Poison Pie Publishing House is a proud resident of Knoxville, Tennessee, which also happens, in recent years, to be home to The Big Ears Festival, a creative music festival. This is a topic particularly dear to the PPPH, which applies to literature a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process originally embraced by creative musicians. The Big Ears festival has brought to town numerous luminaries of the field, including Keiji Haino (2014), Christian Fennesz (2009) and Pauline Oliveros (2009), all of whom have been featured in the course, The Golden Age of Non-Idiomatic Improvisation offered at the University of Tennessee by the Poison Pie Publishing House's own David J. Keffer.

In today's News Sentinel, the local paper of Knoxville, Tennessee, an opinion piece, originally written by Keffer as part of the music course, discusses the disappointing lack of diversity in a festival ostensibly targeted at open-minded listeners. The article draws on points made in A Power Stronger than Itself by George Lewis. The link to an edited version of the article on the News Sentinel website is here, but is available to subscribers only. The original version of the analysis is available to any interested party free of charge on the course website, here.

 

March 7, 2015
Jacob's Dream
The Poison Pie Publishing House is proud to host a gallery of artwork by Ms. Ruth Marie Keffer, titled Jacob's Dream. The work is based on verse 10 from Chapter 28 of Genesis, "And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it." Ruth Keffer was the artistic director for The Faerienomicon, published by the Poison Pie Publishing House in 2014. The PPPH has also created a broadside of angels, rendered as felt finger puppets, here.

 

February 23, 2015
An Hour of Keiji Haino for a Sunny Day in Japanese
The second issue of An International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living, featuring an hour-long playlist composed of the music of Keiji Haino, suitable for a carefree stroll on a sunny day, has been translated by Mr. Takeshi Goda into Japanese. It is available on his blog, A Challenge to Fate. The blog entry contains links to some of the music discussed, including a link to the difficult to find half-hour version of Koko (Here). Many thanks to Mr. Goda for this translation!

 

February 10, 2015
The Implacable Absence: Reviewers Wanted
The Poison Pie Publishing House is looking for independent-minded reviewers for The Implacable Absence: A Non-Idiomatic Improvisational Duet by Henry E. Gorton and David J. Keffer. If the idea of a post-existential fantasy generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process sounds potentially interesting then you are just the reviewer we are looking for! We think that this book will appeal to readers who possess, in the words of Derek Bailey, "an impatience with the gruesomely predictable".

The PPPH can supply reviewers worldwide with a review copy of the book in electronic format (pdf, epub, mobi). There is a limited supply of review copies of the book in paperback format that can, due to a finite promotional budget, be shipped only to reviewers in the United States of America. Please send a request for a review copy to editor "@" poisonpie.com. It would be helpful if target destinations for the review (amazon, goodreads, blog, etc.) were noted.

 

February 5, 2015
An Hour of Keiji Haino for a Sunny Day
The second issue of the International Journal of Exploratory Meta-Living has been published. This issue includes an hour long playlist composed entirely of the music of Japanese experimental vocalist and guitarist, Keiji Haino, intended to accompany a carefree stroll on a sunny spring day.

 

January 24, 2015
2014: The Year in Review at the Poison Pie Publishing House
2014 proved another productive year for the Poison Pie Publishing House, which released a total of five books in a combination of paper and electronic formats. The 2014 catalog of releases is comprised of one novel, one illustrated book and a trilogy of fantasy role-playing modules. For those keeping track at home, the full list of releases includes

 

Additionally, in 2014 the Poison Pie Publishing House became the repository for three electronic documents, including two literary essays and one interview.

Looking back at the goals of the previous End-of-the-Year Report for 2013, two of the five books proposed were realized in 2014, The Implacable Absence and The Faerienomicon. The other planned projects were either postponed due to other activities, shelved indefinitely or simply remained in progress by the authors.

Looking forward to 2015, the staff of the Poison Pie publishing House is engaged in the preparation of various works, including (i) its first volume of poetry, A Prayer Book for the Damned, (ii) the next instalment in its eclectic series of post-existential novels generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process, (iii) hopefully another illustrated book by the Keffer family of East Tennessee, (iv) a light-hearted fantasy role-playing module for children, A Bride for Chubbernut, (v) modest tinkering with an archival novel yet to be published and (vi) whatever other unruly beast happens to rear its head.

To our readers, we, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House, thank you for your patronage and support and we look forward to another mutually creative and unpredictable year.

 

January 22, 2015
Non-Idiomatic Improvised Music in 2014
The Poison Pie Publishing House repeatedly insists upon identifying itself as a publisher of post-existential fiction generated through a non-idiomatic improvisational creative process (though such distinction undeniably serves no commercial purpose). While the PPPH staff has written on a literature of non-idiomatic improvisation, it is certainly true that non-idiomatic improvisation originated with music. While many remain unaware of its activities, non-idiomatic improvised music continues to be created and released today. As evidence, the staff of the Poison Pie Publishing House assembled a short list of a few recordings officially released in 2014. This brief list is, of course, not intended to be exhaustive. Rather it provides a window into the sorts of sounds that reverberated in the hallways of the Poison Pie Publishing House as our work was under way. This list is provided in no particular order, except that the two posthumously released recordings appear last. While a link is provided for each recording, it goes without saying that the Poison Pie Publishing House has no commercial affiliation with any of the record labels represented here.

  • Flowing Stream - Thomas Buckner, Joëlle Léandre & Nicole Mitchell - (Leo Records, England, CD LR 701, 2014, cd) link.
  • The Secret Escapades of Velvet Anderson - Nicole Mitchell's Sonic Projections (Rogue Art, France, ROG-0056, 2014, cd) link.
  • Sonic Rivers - Wadado Leo Smith, George Lewis & John Zorn (Tzadik, USA, TZ 4001, 2014, cd) link.
  • Only Wanting To Melt Beautifully Away... - Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke & Oren Ambarchi (Black Truffle Records/medama records, Australia/Japan, BT011/mr05, October 11, 2014, lp) link.
  • Aphorisms (Discography) - Peter Kowald, Floros Floridis & Baby Sommer (Jazzwerkstatt, Germany, 150, (rec. 1997) 2014, box+book+cdx4) link.
  • Avignon & After Volume 2 - Steve Lacy (Emanem, England, 5031, (rec. 1972-7) 2014, cd) link.

 

January 14, 2015
A Bride for Chubbernut
A Bride for Chubbernut is a module containing sixteen light-hearted delves for role-players, young and old, in which the party travels as guard to Chubbernut, a bullywug crown prince, who refuses to marry for political alliance and insists that he will only wed his true love. The party must protect and advise Chubbernut as he seeks to discover the meaning of love by completing tasks assigned to him by a legendary matchmaker and oracle. This module includes various absurdities including one delve in which the heroic party must sing an opera based on a Mad Lib of John Berryman's poem, Dream Song 14 in order to obtain a magical popsicle created by a pair of yetis who froze the Elixir of Immortality and who happen to be opera aficionados.

The character of Chubbernut, the bullywug prince, was created by Mr. Henry E. Gorton. The Keffer family created eight of the delves for the first visit of Henry Gorton to East Tennessee in the summer of 2014. The remaining eight delves were completed in the winter of 2015 in anticipation of a subsequent visit at an as of yet undetermined date.

Instead of the traditional lead miniatures, the characters in this module are represented using LEGO minifigures. Numerous photographs are included in the module.

A Bride for Chubbernut, and other fantasy role-playing modules from the Poison Pie Publishing House are freely available in electronic format via anonymous download here.