From Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief (sort of) of ALL PULP, one of the Spectacled Seven-
I had intended to write a long letter of sorts to open up this event that I'm about to talk about, but as I sat down to do it, I realized that the material we have, the contributions we have garnered from people really, truly in the know and devoted to, well, this thing I haven't told you about yet, would do more than enough to explain what ALL PULP is up to. But I'll set the table a little bit...
Philip Jose Farmer, whether you love him, hate him, or even know who he is as a writer, has had a truly significant, almost immeasurable impact on pulp fiction today, if not literature as a whole. Although people were mixing characters from different stories and even different mediums long before PJF came along, no one, in my opinion, has done so much work to turn that neat little convention of having Sherlock Holmes or Tarzan (for example) meet, well, just about anybody you want them to as Farmer did through his writing.
On December 13, 1795, a meteor crashed to the earth. Its final destination was near a small english Village, Wold Newton. From that singular real incident, PJF wove an entire universe of adventures and a family tree that would boggle the minds of most genealogists. Essentially, the Wold Newton concept intertwines, tangles, and ties up a passle of notable literary characters by making them all somehow related to someone who was present when the meteor struck near Wold Newton.
In celebration of not only the actual strike, but moreso Farmer's work and dedication to literary development, ALL PULP is hosting WOLD NEWTON DAYS from December 11-13! Not only did Farmer create Wold Newton in a sense and turn out a volume of work related to it, he has also inspired a fan and creator following almost unparalleled by anyone else. Scholars, both amateur and professional, have studied Wold Newton and writers of all stripes have either directly written their own contributions and caveats into the concept or unknowingly riff of of Farmer's ideas because many of them have become 'grist for the rumor mill' among writers. It is, however, the dedicated writer base, that group of people who studied and even grew close to PJF before his passing that ALL PULP turns the reins over to for this wonderful and hopefully inspirational celebration.
In the next three days, you will see articles, both new and reprinted, interviews, transcripts from speeches, even PJF/Wold Newton inspired music possibly, as well as reviews of current work in the Wold Newton Universe. So, welcome to ALL PULP's WOLD NEWTON DAYS...Enjoy..and remember, take notes...there's a lot to keep up with here;)
Tommy Hancock
12/11/10
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