The pulp magazines of the early twentieth century have had a profound effect on popular culture across the globe. The fiction and art of the pulps reverberated through a wide variety of media — comic books, movies, paperbacks, television, men’s adventure magazines, radio drama, video, anime, manga, role-playing games, and more.
PulpFest seeks to honor the pulps by drawing attention to the many ways these rough-paper magazines have inspired writers, artists, film directors, software developers, and countless other creators over the years. Their influence extends to this very day.
In September 2020, we introduced “PulpFest Profiles” to our homepage. Appearing around the middle of each month, this exciting series focuses on contemporary creators who have been inspired by the throwaway fiction magazines called pulps.
Our snapshots about today’s pop culture creators are orchestrated by a team of crack writers:
A professional journalist and illustrator with over thirty years of experience, Sara Light-Waller is an accomplished new-pulp fiction author/illustrator with three books out and more on the way. She is also the winner of the 2020 Cosmos Prize for her illustrated short story, “Battle at Neptune.” A huge pulp fan, Sara is especially fond of science fiction pulps. The extent of her pulp fandom can best be measured by the oversized rendition of Frank R. Paul’s August 1928 Amazing Stories cover that she painted on her garage. Sara is also a member of the PulpFest organizing committee.
The author of the Edgar-nominated Hector Lassiter historical crime series, Craig McDonald is an award-winning novelist, journalist, and editor. He’s also a member of the PulpFest organizing committee.
The twelve volumes in his Lassiter series chronicle the exploits of a fictional Black Mask author and his encounters with such notable figures as Lester Dent, Ian Fleming, Ernest Hemingway, and Orson Welles. In addition to his Edgar nomination, Craig was also a finalist for the Anthony, Gumshoe, and Crimespree Magazine Award for best first novel. At PulpFest 50, Craig debuted the Zana O’Savin series, a haunting mix of history and meta-fiction that introduces the award-winning author’s version of Doc Savage’s cousin Pat.
William Patrick Maynard is the licensed continuation author for the Sax Rohmer Literary Estate. His short fiction has been published in anthologies by Airship 27, Bold Venture Press, Black Coat Press, Flinch Books, MX Books, Riviere Blanche, and Titan Books. He has authored over 250 articles for numerous magazines and websites and contributed Blu-ray commentary tracks and produced bonus features for releases by MGM, Shout Factory, Kino Lorber, and The Serial Squadron. Bill is on the editorial board of The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box and is a member of the PulpFest Organizing Committee where he serves as Assistant Director of Marketing and Afternoon Programming Director.
So watch for our “PulpFest Profiles” around the middle of each month. Our next series will be running through June 2023, with the first appearing on October 17 of this year. Bill Maynard will profile award-winning author Craig McDonald.
Our “PulpFest Profiles” salute contemporary creators who have been inspired by the throwaway fiction magazines called pulps. Contemporary creators very much inspired along the same lines as Hannes Bok, whose skeleton writing in The Book of the Dead was featured on the cover for the November 1941 issue of Weird Tales.
We’ll be saluting the centennial of “The Unique Magazine” at PulpFest 2023 as we begin our sixth-decade celebrating mystery, adventure, science fiction, and more.
