Hey PulpFest members? Are you interested in genre fiction? Then you’ll be happy to know that PulpFest has worked out a discount exchange with Confluence, Pittsburgh’s longest-running literary conference, with a strong focus on science fiction, fantasy and horror.
All PulpFest members will receive $10 off the price of a daily membership to Confluence. The conference runs from 3 PM on Friday, July 27, through 3 PM on Sunday, July 29. It takes place at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel, located at 1160 Thorn Run Road in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. To receive your discount, simply show your PulpFest badge when you register at the door.
Confluence members are also welcome to attend PulpFest 2018. They will receive the same $10 discount off the price of a daily PulpFest admission with proof of membership. Click one of the Register buttons on our home page for our daily rates.
About Confluence 2018
Confluence is a cooperative effort between the University of Pittsburgh science fiction club and Parsec, a non-profit organization that has been promoting science fiction, fantasy and horror in literature, media and music for over 25 years. Joe Coluccio, who has attended PulpFest for the last few years, serves as the president of Parsec.
Award-winning authors, editors, artists and song-writers gather in Pittsburgh for three full days, holding panel discussions, concerts and talks that broaden and deepen appreciation of the genres. Welcoming and personal, Confluence gives attendees a unique opportunity to meet and chat with the writers and artists who create the science fiction, fantasy, and horror of today, helping to shape those genres for the future.
This year’s Confluence will offer many activities including musical filk concerts, an exciting dealers’ room, science programming, an art show, poetry readings, workshops, art demos, a cosplay/costume contest, and Saturday night entertainment. Additionally, Hugo-winning science fiction writer David D. Levine will conduct a Writers’ Workshop. A select number of authors will have the chance to have a professional writer and several of their peers critique their work. These will be done in a round-robin, Clarion West style, allowing all the participants to read and critique everyone’s work.
NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente will be the Confluence 2018 Guest of Honor. A writer of fantasy and science fiction novels, short stories, and poetry, Catherynne has won or been nominated for every major award in her fields, including the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. She has taken home the James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award, the Mythopoeic Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and other honors. Singer-songwriter S. J. Tucker and filk performer and interpreter Judi Miller will also be appearing at the 2018 Confluence.
About PulpFest 2018
PulpFest 2018 begins on Thursday, July 26, with early-bird shopping in our dealers’ room from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. We’ll also have a full slate of programming, beginning at 8:40 PM. Our dealers’ room is open on Friday and Saturday from 10 AM until 4:45 PM and on Sunday from 9 AM until 2 PM while dealers are packing up for their trip home. We’ll also have programming events on Friday and Saturday afternoons, plus evening programming on both nights from 7 PM until 10 PM. There will be no programming on Sunday.
The convention will salute the centennial of the birth of Grand Master of Science Fiction Philip José Farmer. Join PulpFest 2018 and FarmerCon 100 for panels and presentations on the celebrated author of TARZAN ALIVE: A DEFINITIVE BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GREYSTOKE, DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE, the Riverworld and World of Tiers series, and many other works. We’ll also honor the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War. The convention will focus on the so-called “war pulps” of the early twentieth century and the depiction of war in popular culture. Click the Programming button under our home page banner to learn more.
Award-winning author Joe Lansdale will be the PulpFest 2018 Guest of Honor. The author of over forty novels and many short stories, Lansdale has also written for comics, television, film, Internet sites, and more. His novella “Bubba Ho-Tep” was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. The film adaptation of his novel COLD IN JULY was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.
In addition to our great programming, our dealers’ room features tens of thousands of pulp magazines, vintage paperbacks, digests, men’s adventure and true crime magazines, original art, first edition hardcovers, genre fiction, series books, reference books, dime novels and story papers, Big Little Books, B-Movies, serials and related paper collectibles, old-time radio shows, and Golden and Silver Age comic books, as well as newspaper adventure strips. It’s perfect for the reader and/or the collector!
PulpFest 2018 will also hold two live auctions featuring material from two estates. The convention will be offering pulps, books, and digests from such diverse genres as science fiction, adventure, sports, and the western field. Some highlights include a number of rare premiums offered to pulp readers, over twenty Gnome Press, Shasta, and Avalon first edition hardcovers, rare science fiction paperbacks including a selection of Ace Doubles, British science fiction magazines, long runs of Analog, Galaxy, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and other digests, and much more. The auctions will begin on both Friday and Saturday nights at 10 PM.
PulpFest will take place at the beautiful DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. Nineteen miles north of Pittsburgh, the DoubleTree is conveniently located at the intersection of Interstate 79, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and State Route 19. Our host hotel is at 910 Sheraton Drive, Mars, Pennsylvania. For driving directions, please visit http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/pennsylvania/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-pittsburgh-cranberry-PITMADT/maps-directions/index.html.
(Philip José Farmer was a leading contributor to the science fiction digests of the fifties and sixties. THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION — which published “Open to Me, My Sister” in its May 1960 issue, featuring front cover art by Mel Hunter — was one of many magazines to which he sold.)
