At PulpFest 2025, we’ll not only salute the “Masters of Blood and Thunder,” the “Great Pulp Villains,” and more, we’ll also welcome back the fans of Philip José Farmer for Farmercon XX!
Since 2011, PulpFest has hosted Farmercon, a convention celebrating the life and times of the longtime pulp fan and Grand Master of Science Fiction, born over 100 years ago.
Few people think of Philip José Farmer as a pulp writer, but he was a child of the pulps and launched his career in the pulps. Born January 26, 1918 in North Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer grew up in Peoria, Illinois. He spent much of his childhood reading everything he could find from the classics through the pulps.
Farmer’s interest in the rough-paper magazines of his youth would lead him to pen two biographies about pulp characters — Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke and Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life during his career. He would also author official Doc Savage and Tarzan novels: Escape from Loki and The Dark Heart of Time. Both stories were set in the year of their author’s birth — 1918.
One of the highlights of FarmerCon XX will be the convention’s panel saluting Doc Savage and Tarzan — the late author’s two favorite pulp characters.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest on Friday, August 8, at 8:35 pm as we welcome Christopher Paul Carey and Win Scott Eckert to our stage for “Tarzan the Time Traveler” — exploring Philip José Farmer’s Time’s Last Gift, a novel featuring “a tall, dark-haired, gray-eyed Englishman who goes native far too easily and competently” — and “Discourses on Doc” — a look at Farmer’s writings and speculations concerning “The Man of Bronze.”
Christopher Paul Carey is the coauthor with Philip José Farmer of The Song of Kwasin, and the author of Exiles of Kho, Hadon, King of Opar, and Blood of Ancient Opar, all works set in Farmer’s Khokarsa series. He is the author of Swords Against the Moon Men, an authorized sequel to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic science fantasy novel The Moon Maid, as well as the ERB Universe novel Victory Harben: The Fires of Halos. He has scripted several comic books set in Burroughs’ worlds and his short fiction can be found in various anthologies. He is Vice President of Publishing at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., the corporation founded by Burroughs in 1923, and he has edited more than 100 novels, anthologies, and collections for a variety of publishers. He lives in Southern California.
Win Scott Eckert is the authorized legacy author of Philip José Farmer’s Patricia Wildman series (The Evil in Pemberley House, The Scarlet Jaguar), as well as the coauthor with Farmer of the Doc Caliban/Secrets of the Nine novel, The Monster on Hold. A lifelong Edgar Rice Burroughs reader, Eckert wrote the authorized Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe novels, Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar and Korak at the Earth’s Core, with Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow and Tarzan Unleashed forthcoming. His other professional credits include authorized tales of Zorro, the Phantom, Honey West, the Avenger, the Lone Ranger, and the Green Hornet, as well as short stories featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Domino Lady, and Sherlock Holmes. His latest short story, “She-Devil of Paris,” saw print in Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025. He lives in Woodland Park, Colorado, with his wife and a bevy of four-legged family members.
“Fraternize at Farmercon” will follow our panel presentation at 11:05 pm in the Ember & Vine lounge at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. All are welcome to join the “Friends of Phil” during their gatherings in our host hotel’s restaurant and lounge.
All this and more will be part of Farmercon XX, the 2025 convention for all things Farmer, taking place from August 7 – 10 at this summer’s PulpFest.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the 2025 Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the register button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room. The DoubleTree is essentially sold out, but you can click here for nearby hotels. If you’re looking for a roommate, write to Jack Cullers at his email address below.
Remember, in addition to your membership in PulpFest 2025, you’ll also be a member of Doc Con XXI, ERBFest 2025, and Farmercon XX. That’s four conventions for one price! You can’t beat that deal.
If you’re interested in selling at PulpFest, our dealers’ room is full. However, we are adding a limited number of tables in the pre-function hallway outside of the dealers’ room. These tables will cost $125 each and will be guarded by security overnight. If you are interested, please write to Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com to sign up for a spot. Any attendees who are interested in providing security services, please write to Jack Cullers at his email address above.
Our featured image is excerpted from Keith Howell’s cover art for Savageology, a collection of Philip José Farmer’s writings about Doc Savage, forthcoming from Meteor House in 2025.
Speaking of Doc Savage, catch Craig McDonald’s latest video on the Man of Bronze by visiting our YouTube Channel.
And while you’re there, be sure to subscribe.
Our lead image is adapted by William Lampkin from Bob Eggleton’s dust jacket art for Philip José Farmer’s Time’s Last Gift, forthcoming from Meteor House in 2025.
Our final image is Philip José Farmer’s Time’s Last Gift, the second British printing, published by Panther Books in 1979 with cover art by Geoff Cummings.
