September is shaping up to be a busy month for me, with three events that Pulp Curry readers might be interested in.
September 2nd to 4th is the inaugural Port Fairy Literary Weekend, which is being organised by the Wonderful Blarney Books and Art. The entire program, which looks great, can be viewed on-line here. I will be taking part in a panel titled ‘Dangerous Visions’ on the Saturday afternoon of the festivities. ABC journalist Matt Neal will be interviewing me about the book I co-edited with Iain McIntyre, Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985, along with Mykaela Saunders and Jack Latimore, two writers who are part of a new anthology of First Nations science fiction, This All Come Back Now. I have a copy of This All Come Back Now and am looking forward to reading it before the event.
I will also have the remaining stock of my science fiction book, as well as copies of the first two in the series, Girl Gangs, Biker Boys and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture 1950-1980 and Sticking it to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and popular Fiction 1950-1980, for sale at the festival. Tickets for the event can be purchased via the website here.
The World Science Fiction Convention is taking place in Chicago in the same weekend as the Port Fairy Literary. I very proud to report that Dangerous Visions and New Worlds is up for a Hugo award for best non-fiction title. Also, for those of you attending WorldCon, I will be chairing a panel on Saturday 3 September 19:00 CDT – that is 10am EST – on the origins and influence of new wave science fiction. This will involve three of the contributors to the Dangerous Visions and New Worlds book, Kat Clay, Daniel Shank Cruz and Erica Satifka. Being part of a gathering as large as WorldCon is a new experience for me and I am still not a hundred percent sure how the arrangements for the online panel will be worked out. But if you are attending, please add this event to your schedule.
Last but by no means least is an online launch for my monograph, Horwitz Publications, Pulp Fiction and the Rise of the Australian Paperback. This book explores the history of Horwitz Publications, one of Australia’s largest post-war pulp publishers. Although best known for its cheaply produced, sometimes luridly packaged softcover books, Horwitz Publications played a far larger role in mainstream Australian publishing than has been recognised, particularly in the expansion of the paperback that took place from the late 1950s onwards. It is with some pride that I am able to say it is the first book length academic study of Horwitz and, indeed, Australian pulp fiction generally.
The launch is being organised by the Australian National University’s Centre for Literary Cultures (CALC), and will take place on Thursday, September 8, from 4.30 to 6pm EST. The book is out via Anthem Press in the UK – in hardback and priced for institutions initially but a cheaper paperback is in the works for mid-2023 – as part of its Studies in Australian Literature and Culture series. Series editor Dr Nicole Moore will be chairing the launch, followed by a discussion between myself and friend and fellow pulp enthusiast Dr Stuart Kells, and then I’ll be taking questions. All the details related to the CALC launch are here at this link. It is completely free although you do have to register. This means that, depending on what time it is in your part of the world, anyone, anywhere can attend. I hope to see some of your virtually there.
