PKD Day Three at Nottingham Trent

This year June 13th will mark the third "PKD Day" at Nottingham Trent University. While there's no word yet on the lineup of speakers (stay tuned for that) the event has been a huge success in the past with even our own ever-ubikuitous Palmer Eldritch giving a talk at last year's PKD day.

I like the way the English department at NTU has organized this event, making it a casual, one day thing, that I get the sense they put on without a big budget. There has never been a comparable PKD event on this side of the pond. I've thought a lot about putting something like this together at San Francisco State University where I (and PKD biographer Gregg Rickman) work.

The problem is that these things cost quite a lot of money to do right. We'd want to bring in PKD experts from all over the world, organize symposiums, panel discussions, maybe even a tour of important PKD sites in the Bay Area. But perhaps I'm going about this all wrong. Maybe it should be a low-key thing, minus the scholars from all over the world. Maybe it should be in bar, rather than on a campus.

What do you think?

More info on PKD Day 3 here.

PKD Day 2 - Electric Sheep Boogaloo

The English Division of Nottingham Trent University has announced a sequel to last year's much discussed Philip K Dick Day. Get ready for Philip K Dick Day 2!

From the email announcement:

"Following last June’s ‘PKD-Day’ marking 25 years since the author’s death, the English Team at Nottingham Trent University have organised a further a day of discussion and celebration of Philip K. Dick’s remarkable body of work. It is an informal event, designed to bring together enthusiasts and academics in a day of papers and discussions."

The most exciting news is that our pal palmer_eldritch will be speaking!:

"'Palmer Eldritch' will be talking about his PKD blog, with its regular feature on “which PKD story are we in today?”. Professor John Goodridge will be looking at emotionalism and melodrama in some of Dick’s novels. PKD collector and enthusiast Alberto Paulino will introduce some of the PKD materials he has acquired over the years. Dr Barry Atkins will be talking about “Videogames: Playing in a Dickian Universe”. Other talks and papers are in preparation, and there will be plenty of time for discussion and get-togethers during the day."

The event will be held June 14th from 10am - 5pm in Nottingham UK. RSVP to John Goodridge (john.goodridge(at)ntuac.uk) who promises me his thirteen-year-old daughter will be videoing the event which is awesome for those of us on this side of the pond.

Update: PKD Day 2 has a website up and running now!