PulpFest 2023 will be here in just over 60 days! On Thursday, August 3, be one of the hundreds of pop-culture fans who will be arriving at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry, just north of Pittsburgh in the town of Mars, Pennsylvania. Click the button marked “registration” at the top of this page to learn how to join this summer’s annual get-together for fans of popular fiction and art.
If you’re planning to register for PulpFest 2023, remember that you can submit material to this year’s auction. As long as you let us know what you intend to submit before July 1 — along with photographs of your submissions — it will be eligible for online bidding. Visit our auction page for more information, or write to Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com.
Another deadline that is fast approaching concerns your nominations for the 2023 Munsey Award. We must receive your nominations by 11:59 pm on Friday, June 9.
To nominate a person or organization for either or both of these prestigious awards, please provide a brief statement of your reasons. Send your nomination to PulpFest marketing and programming director Mike Chomko at mike@pulpfest.com. You can also reach Mike at 2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542. For further guidelines about Munsey nominations, please click here.
The 2023 Munsey Award will be presented on Saturday, August 5, as part of our great programming line-up at PulpFest 2023.
PulpFest is known for its superb programming. Of course, the presentations that we have planned for this year’s convention will live up to these expectations.
PulpFest 2023 is celebrating the centennials of Weird Tales, Sport Story Magazine, and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., as well as the 90th anniversaries of The Spider, Robert E. Howard’s Conan, and Doc Savage.
And don’t forget about the other terrific conventions that will be held in conjunction with next year’s PulpFest — ERBFest 2023 and FarmerCon XVIII. That’s three conventions for the price of one!
As part of our latest celebration of that Master of Adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, we’ll be saluting the centennial of the author’s “Moon Trilogy” and the 150th anniversary of artist J. Allen St. John’s birth. ERBFest 2023 will also be sponsoring an art show, hosted by Henry G Franke III, editor of The Burroughs Bulletin.
But that’s not all. PulpFest is very happy to welcome back FarmerCon, a gathering of the many fans of author Philip José Farmer.
Since 2011, PulpFest has hosted FarmerCon, a convention that began in Peoria, Illinois, the hometown of Philip José Farmer. Originally a gathering of Farmer fans figuratively, and literally, right outside Phil’s back door, FarmerCon offered presentations, dinners, and even picnics at the author’s house. After the passing of Phil and Bette Farmer in 2009, it was decided to take FarmerCon on the road to broaden its horizons. By holding the convention alongside PulpFest, Farmer fans get a variety of programming and a room full of pulp and book dealers to enjoy.
Our Farmer friends will be returning to PulpFest in 2023 for FarmerCon XVIII, celebrating the life and times of Philip José Farmer, longtime pulp fan and Grand Master of Science Fiction.
The general public is welcome to attend all of our evening programming events.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be posting here about our dealers, our great programming line-up, our Pulpster program book, the writers and artists who will be appearing at PulpFest, and much more. You can keep abreast of all these updates by bookmarking our homepage or liking us on Facebook. You can also follow us on Twitter or Instagram. Don’t forget to sign up for the PulpFest e-letter — focusing on the “behind-the-scenes” planning for this summer’s convention — by clicking here. Just give us your name and email address and click the “submit” button. While you’re at it, you may as well subscribe to our YouTube channel and enjoy the great videos that Craig McDonald has been creating for much of the last year.
PulpFest 2023 will take place from August 3 – 6 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. You can become a member of the convention by clicking the registration button on the PulpFest website.
If you need lodging, you’ll also be able to book a room through our site or by calling 800-222-8733. Be sure to mention PulpFest in order to receive the convention rate. By staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton, you’ll help to ensure the convention’s success. Given its popularity, we urge every member to book a hotel room for PulpFest 2023 as soon as possible. The earlier you place your room reservation for this year’s PulpFest, the greater chance you will have of landing a room at this beautiful hotel. You must book your room by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, July 12, to receive the convention rate.
If you’re looking for a roommate for your stay at the DoubleTree, please email convention chairman Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com. He may be able to put you in touch with someone.
Join us at PulpFest 2023 for “Chilling Sports,” “Pulp Heroes” and a great deal more. You’ll have an amazing time!
So what’s your taste? Heroic warriors and omnipotent sorcerers? Mysteries that leave you breathless? Adventures inside the earth or beyond the farthest star? Finding true love when least expected? All have their roots in pulp fiction. PulpFest is the convention for fans of popular culture and genre fiction both old and new. It celebrates the many ways that pulp magazines have inspired creators over the years.
The March 1946 Adventure is important in the life of Philip José Farmer because it marked the publication of his first sale as a writer. His novella, “O’Brien and Obrenov,” concerns the occupation of a German town at the end of World War II. The American and Russian forces occupying the town argue over who can claim the high-ranking German they have captured. According to The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page, “The way they decide to settle their argument is hilarious, but the final outcome is even better.”
The Munsey Award was created in 2009 by award-winning artist and pulp art historian David Saunders. Dan Zimmer of The Illustrated Press and publisher of Illustration Magazine produced a limited signed and numbered edition of the award. The Munsey is named after Frank A. Munsey, the publisher of the first pulp magazine.
The Moon Maid Centennial logo is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and is used with permission. It’s based on J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket artwork for the 1926 edition of The Moon Maid, published by A. C. McClurg.
Griffith Foxley’s cover for the March 1946 issue of Popular Publications’Adventure. The artist painted at least one other cover for Adventure, the July 1940 number. He also painted covers for true crime magazines such as Master Detective and True Detective Mysteries and created interior art for Liberty.
Foxley is best remembered for his paperback book cover paintings, including the Dell first edition of Fredric Brown’s Madball, Ernest Hemingway’s Across the River and Through the Trees, and the Donald Lam and Bertha Cool mystery, Top of the Heap. He seemed to primarily work for Dell’s paperback line.
Our two PulpFest postcards were adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin. Featured are Rafael DeSoto’s cover art for the October 1941 issue of The Spider and Clarence Doore’s cover art for the November 1955 issue of True Weird. A short-lived magazine published by Weider Periodicals of Jersey City, NJ, it featured sensationalized accounts of myths, legends, and similar stories.
Our featured image is adapted from Margaret Brundage’s classic cover art for the October 1933 issue of Weird Tales, illustrating the first segment of Edmond Hamilton’s serial, “The Vampire Master.”
Leslie Silberberg is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began posting on our website in 2022. She enjoys the science fiction pulps, particularly the work of such leading female writers as Leigh Brackett, Claire Winger Harris, Zenna Henderson, Judith Merril, C. L. Moore, Margaret St. Clair, Wilmar H. Shiras, Francis Stevens, and Leslie F. Stone. Many thanks to Ms. Silberberg for her contributions to pulpfest.com.
Artwork © Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Trademarks The Moon Maid™, The Moon Men™, Edgar Rice Burroughs®, Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe™, ERB Universe™, and others owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Associated logos, characters, names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks or registered trademarks of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Used by Permission.
