Philip K. Dick in 21st Century
The Largest Gathering of PKD Scholars and Fans Ever Assembled in North America, A Multi-disciplinary Celebration of the Legendary California Writer
Philip K. Dick is arguably one of the most important writers of the 21st century. Dick’s uncanny prescience not only foretold of our current surveillance technology and color-coded terror, but additionally captured the narcissism and psychological withdrawal that defines the early part of this new century. Considered at the time of his death to be little more than a genre writer, Dick’s burgeoning literary reputation was kindled by a handful of fans and scholars. With his recent canonization in the prestigious Library of America and the 2011 publication of Dick’s esoteric religious notes, The Exegesis, now is the time to examine Dick’s influence and how he became such an important literary figure. The Bay Area, home to Dick for the majority of his lifetime, is also the perfect location for the event, allowing fans and scholars to step into Dick’s own past and retrace his steps in this vibrant city by the bay. Sept 22-23, 2012 will be a weekend long celebration and examination of Dick’s life and work.
The conference’s guest of honor will be none other than Jonathan Lethem, the editor for Philip K Dick’s three volumes from the prestigious Library of America, an editor of The Exegesis of Philip K Dick (from Houghton Mifflin), and a celebrated novelist in his own right. Lethem currently holds the Roy E. Disney Chair in Creative Writing at Pomona College and his writing about Philip K Dick appears in his essay collections The Disappointment Artist, and The Ecstasy of Influence.
Other confirmed guests include: Pam Jackson (Editor, Philip K Dick’s Exegesis), Erik Davis (Annotations Editor for the recent publication of The Exegesis), John Simon (director of Radio Free Albemuth), Sam Umland (Chair of English Department at University of Nebraska Kearney and author of Contemporary Critical Interpretations: Philip K Dick), Douglas Mackey (author of Philip K Dick, Twayne’s United States Author Series), Umberto Rossi (independent scholar and author of The Twisted Worlds of Philip K Dick), Marc Haefele (an Assistant Editor at Doubleday who worked with Philip K Dick on his masterpiece novels Ubik and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), William Sarill (a longtime friend of Philip K Dick who helped Dick develop the religious system in his novel A Maze of Death), and many, many more.
Stay tuned for more information about the schedule and lodging in San Francisco. If you are interested in either presenting or attending, please contact conference organizer, David Gill: dcgill[at]sfsu[dot]edu. We are currently looking for speakers to give cogent and plain-spoken presentations on the following aspects of Dick’s life and work:
- Biographical
- Literary Criticism
- Science Fiction
- Cinematic Translations
- Sociology and Psychology
- Religion and Philosophy
The organizers are currently planning on charging $35 a day or $50 for the entire weekend. Speakers and presenters will have their entrance fee waived, but at this point we cannot promise presenters either travel or lodging expenses.
The event will be held at San Francisco State University
Jan 16, 2012 @ 19:15:57
Please keep me posted as the date approaches. Are there any book sales associated with this event? Best, Robert Sharp
Feb 07, 2012 @ 19:42:22
Please keep me posed on the PKD Festival. I live here in SF (San Francisco–funny I keep forgetting that it also means science fiction)
Jan 27, 2012 @ 17:57:16
Robert, We shall have all kinds of PKD-related stuff for sale at the Festival. See you there!
Jan 27, 2012 @ 18:30:23
I’m interested, too– when the time and place are set, could you email a reminder? Thanks.
Feb 20, 2012 @ 16:23:00
I haven’t been to SF in years. This festival gives me a reason to return! Please keep me posted. Thanks!
Feb 28, 2012 @ 01:17:27
I would really recommend creating a kickstarter-project. I’m sure you could come up with a bunch of decent “rewards” ….
Mar 04, 2012 @ 06:21:17
Please keep me informed of PKD festival info. I’m here in SF and eagerly await.
Mar 04, 2012 @ 18:06:13
I am really excited for this. I’ll be visiting San Francisco for the first time in my life, and PKD has always been one of, if not my favorite, authors. I’ll be more than happy to lend my support to this festival by attending.
Mar 06, 2012 @ 12:04:15
I’ve just found out about this from listening to the radio program ‘To The Best of Our Knowledge’ (www.ttbok.org), which featured this week a discussion of the writings and personality of Mr. Dick (you can archive the show if interested). I live 70 miles north of San Francisco and would like to know WHERE, specifically, it’s going to be held. Also, if anyone needs help with setup, organization, etc. feel free to contact me. I’d be more-than-happy to help in whatever way I can. Take care.
Mar 18, 2012 @ 04:55:11
Thanks for the invitation, David, but it looks as if I will much more financially strapped than ever, now that I’ve decided to try retiring. Probably I won’t even be able to afford to print and post my fanzines, and will only be able to post them to efanzines.com. So international travel — in fact, any travel — is impossible from now on.
Mar 19, 2012 @ 14:30:01
can i be a nag about the email sign-up fields? The name field id=”placehoder_ie_fix_fname” prompts for “Fristname, Lastname” — firstly ‘Firstname’ is misspelled, secondly does anyone put a comma between their first and last names unless the order is reversed? I definitely will sign-up, eventually, but is my real name really required?
Apr 17, 2012 @ 20:28:49
Can anyone tell me what a signed copy 1st edition of Ubik is worth pg 203 – 28 k? I had a chance to meet Phil many years ago and turned it down— stupid me… my wife was his friend and baby sitter in the OC back in the early 70′s maybe she will consider going to this event…
Apr 21, 2012 @ 13:29:50
There are a number of variables that affect the value. Did the author write only his name, or is there any inscription? Information about the provenance of the book is important, as is the condition. Please feel free to contact me directly at bakerradin (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.
May 04, 2012 @ 21:29:04
He wrote her name and that the world was meant for one as beautiful as she was. He also used her name as a character in the book as he told her personally.
May 04, 2012 @ 22:06:04
The good news is that the inscription significantly increases the value of the book. The less good news is that if the book has the code 28K in the gutter on page 203, then it is the book club edition and not the first edition (which would have much greater value than the book club edition). In any case, if you are interested in knowing what a serious collector would pay for the book (whether or not you and your wife are interested in selling it at this time), please contact me by email at bakerradin (at) sbcglobal (dot) net. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised. Best regards.
May 07, 2012 @ 16:19:28
I love bibliographic discussions! That’s why Henri Wintz and I are about to publish PRECIOUS ARTIFACTS: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography, 1955-2012 USA and UK Editions – in full color!. Please check it out here:
http://pkdickbooks.com/precious_artifacts.html
http://www.facebook.com/PreciousArtifacts
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/495272397/precious-artifacts-a-pictorial-philip-k-dick-bibli?ref=email
May 09, 2012 @ 10:32:33
Are you planning to bring Precious Artifacts to the Conference?
May 09, 2012 @ 11:44:08
Yes, Carlos, both Henri Wintz and I intend to attend the PKD conference in San Francisco over Sept 22nd weekend. Arrangements are yet to be finalized but we’d like to bring PRECIOUS ARTIFACTS and maybe sign a few for attending PKD fans.