PULPFEST 2009

THE FIRST ANNUAL PULPFEST

CELEBRATING VINTAGE PULP FICTION &

POP CULTURE

COMES TO COLUMBUS NEXT WEEK!

Columbus, OH/ - TOUGH GUYS & BAD GIRLS. MASKED HEROES & SPACE VIXENS. MEN OF BRONZE & SCARLET WOMEN will descend on the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Convention Center along with their creators, collectors, and fans for the first annual PULPFEST, from July 31-August 2, 2009!

The three-day event will celebrate the uniquely American form of popular literature. Attendees will enjoy panels featuring pulp fiction historians, authors and editors as well as hunt for rare issues of such seminal publications as The Shadow, Spicy Detective, Amazing Stories, Black Mask, Weird Tales and thousands more in one of the largest dealers room ever devoted to the pulps and their inspirations.

The medium, which thrived from the roaring twenties through WWII, vied with radio and the movies as the era's most popular form of entertainment. The 10-cent magazines printed on coarse pulpwood paper and boasting eye grabbing (and often lurid) four-color cover paintings introduced such literary immortals as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ray Bradbury, L. Ron Hubbard, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Heinlein to the American public. Tarzan, Conan The Barbarian, Buck Rogers, Zorro and Sam Spade of Maltese Falcon were among the dozens of seminal characters introduced in the pulps which are also recognized as the inspiration for such current pop culture mainstays as Star Trek, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and virtually every comic book super hero from Batman to Spider-Man.

This first annual gathering is designed to cater to both long time fans of the genre and those who have been curious about the pulps and how their characters, artists and writers laid the groundwork for all that is celebrated in today's popular culture. From enterprising spacemen to web-slinging heroes and adventuring historians to no-nonsense mutants, the pulps were there first!

Setting the tone for the three day festival will be Guest of Honor, Otto Penzler. The award winning editor and publisher has been responsible for a great deal of the pulp revival as editor of the cricially acclaimed BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF PULPS. Penzler will speak of his adventures in pulp publishing, experiences with some of the most famous pulp scribes and of his forthcoming book, THE BIG BOOK OF BLACK MASK FICTION.

Pulp and comic book author Will Murray will also be on hand to speak about his work as Kenneth Robeson, the byline behind one of pulp fiction's most famous characters, Doc Savage. Murray will also speak of his re-introduction of another classic Robeson character, THE AVENGER!

Other attractions include:

*100+ table dealer showroom boasting one of the largest assemblies of vintage pulp, paperback, old time-radio, movie memorabilia and related material in the world. Affordable reprints, hard-to-find books, fanzines and original artwork will also be offered for sale on FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY.

*Saturday Night auction of rare and sought after pulp magazines, pulp art and memorabilia.

*A tour of the treasure trove of pulp and pop culture material held by Ohio State University by Eric Johnson, Curator of the College's Rare Books and Manuscripts.

*A Sunday Morning awards breakfast for the first annual MUNSEY AWARD in recognition of pulp scholarship and achievement.

ADMISSION is $35.00 for all three days; $15.00 for each indivdiual day. Fee includes access to all convention events and a copy of THE PULPSTER program book containing articles about the pulps and their creators.

SHOW HOURS: FRIDAY 7/31: Noon-Midnight SATURDAY 8/1 9am-Midnight; SUNDAY 8/2: 8:30am-4pm.

LOCATION: Ramada Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, 4900 Sinclair Road, 1-71 and Morse Road, Columbus OH 43229 614-886-0300

For artwork, additional questions, presss, and media credentials contact: Mark Trost, Media Relations - 516-330-7487; email:poppub@yahoo.com

For general information visit the pulp fest website: www.pulpfest.com or email: ed@pulpfest.com