Robert E. Howard Days 2009
Posted by Official Editor Bill "Indy" Cavalier on March 1st, 2009
While March is coming in like Amra the Lion here in NW Indiana, I’m finding that thinking about REH Days in June is making me warm all over!
The 2009 version of Robert E. Howard Days will take place on June 12th and 13th in Cross Plains, Texas, and I’m here to say, “Y’all come!”
As in years past, Howard Days is a joint venture sponsored by Project Pride, the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, and the Robert E. Howard Foundation. This year we’re trying something just a little different by theming Howard Days to The Poetry of Robert E. Howard.
By way of celebrating the 2009 publication of The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard from the REHF Press, we thought focusing on the wonderful poems of REH was a theme certainly worth doing, and long overdue at that. We’ve invited Larry D. Thomas, the 2008 Poet Laureate of Texas, to be our Guest of Honor, and Donald Sidney-Fryer, an outstanding poet and authority on the Weird Tales poets, to be our Special Guest. Four of the five panels we have planned will focus on Ol’ Two-Gun’s poetry, and in addition to Mr. Thomas and Mr. Sidney-Fryer, we’ll have on hand a number of REH Poetry experts (like Frank Coffman and Barbara Barrett) to enlighten and entertain us. Plus we’ll all be able to participate in reading Howard’s poetry at the 2nd Annual Robert E. Howard Poetry Throwdown!
Fear not, the usual Howard Days activities are still in place: the Robert E. Howard House is open for all, there’ll be walking tours of the town of Cross Plains, bus tours of the surrounding areas, panels, swap meet, Postal Cancellation, Celebration Banquet & Silent Auction, the REH Foundation (formerly the Cimmerian) Awards, Poetry Throwdown, Barbarian Festival uptown, and the Saturday Sunset Barbeque at Caddo Peak Ranch. The best part of the weekend, as always, is the fine REH fellowship that happens, where fans meet and talk the days and night away, all right next to the very room where Robert E. Howard wrote over three million words!
Details of the schedule that follows are forthcoming, but I wanted to give you a good idea of what we have planned. Of course this will be subject to some change, but it will only be for the better!
We hope to see a passle of y’all in Texas this June. The fine folks at Project Pride, who are the real reason Howard Days exists, do request a nominal $10.00 per person registration fee for the Friday night banquet. This also helps give them a basic head count and a head start in planning the weekend’s activities. You could give them a real head start by sending your registration fee early to: Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, Texas 76443.
I’ll be re-doing the detailed REH Days page here on the REHupa site within a week or so, but I hope this is enough to get all of you started on your planning a great Robert E. Howard weekend. See you in June!
9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open. Closed for Lunch 12-1
9 am – 4 pm: REH Postal Cancellation at Cross Plains Post Office
9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains
9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area
10 am – 5 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open
Noon: Lunch hosted by Project Pride. Donations Welcome.
Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet
1 pm: PANEL: Poetry Theme. Panelists and Location to be announced.
3 pm: PANEL: Poetry Theme. Panelists and Location to be announced.
5:30 – 6:30: Silent Auction items available for viewing & bidding at Banquet site
6:30: Robert E. Howard Celebration Banquet and Silent Auction at the Cross Plains Community Center featuring Guest of Honor Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate
9:00: The Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards at the Howard House Pavilion, followed by The 2nd Annual ROBERT E. HOWARD POETRY THROWDOWN (open to all)
9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open. Closed for Lunch 12-1
9 am – 4 pm: BARBARIAN FESTIVAL in the large lot North of the Dollar Store on Main St.
9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains
9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area
10 am – 3 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open
10 am: PANEL: Poetry Theme. Panelists and Location to be announced.
Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet
Lunch & Festival Activities at your leisure during the day
1 pm PANEL: Readings & Book Signings: Larry D. Thomas & Donald Sidney-Fryer at the Cross Plains Library
3 pm PANEL: What’s Happening with REH: Leslie Buhler from Paradox Entertainment, Rusty Burke, Paul Herman, Bill Cavalier
5 pm: Sunset BBQ at the Caddo Peak Ranch
NOTES: A visit to the Howard gravesite at the Greenleaf Cemetery in Brownwood is not a planned activity, but directions are available at the Howard House.
The REH Days Documentary done by Goodspeed Productions in 2008 may be ready for showing at the 2009 Howard Days. Information will be forthcoming.
Posted in REH Days |
