This past weekend was the 2021 Robert E. Howard Days. After last year’s cancellation, it was a much needed gathering. And while many of the regulars weren’t able to attend, the number of first time attendees made up the difference. The gift shop sold out of almost all the books they had in stock.

Roy Thomas was the Guest of Honor. The schedule was a little different this year, with a fewer panels and later starting times.

Mark Finn did the Fists at the Ice House panel solo after the banquet on Friday night. That panel is different every year and depends on who is there. Mark listed his ten favorite Howard boxing stories and read excerpts of  each one. If you’ve not read Howard’s boxing stories, you’ve missed a major portion of his output. Howard’s send of humor really comes through in his humorous boxing stories. The four volumes of the collected boxing stories are almost our of print, so move quickly if you want to get copies of the first printings. They are available from the Robert E.Howard Foundation Press.

Roy Thomas talked about how the Conan comic came about both on panels and at the banquet Friday night. I didn’t get a lot at the silent auction, but there have been fewer things I’ve wanted badly enough to spend a lot of money on them the last few years. (This a good thing. Mostly.) This was followed by the aforementioned Fists at the Ice House.

The first volume of the new edition of the Collected Letters arrived the day before things kicked off, which was a pleasant surprised. The Foundation Press thought the books wouldn’t be ready until next week. The revised edition of the collected poetry will be three volumes. Enough new poems have been found that a single volume isn’t practical. The Foundation Press is going to reprint most of their titles as the first editions go out of print. The good news is that the new editions won’t be limited edition hardcovers, but will be available in both trade paper and hardcover. So if you missed the collected poetry and are worried if you will be able to afford the new editions, you can relax. They won’t be limited editions.

Jason M. Waltz was there representing the Rogue Blades Entertainment and the Rouge Blades Foundation. The Rogue Blades Foundation premiered Robert E. Howard Changed my Life, a collection of essays about the impact Howard had on the contributor’s lives. The profits go to support Project Pride and the upkeep of the Robert E. Howard house. You can order yourself a copy by clicking the link. Here’s a closer look at the cover.

The Robert E. Howard Foundation awards were given on Friday afternoon. Since Howard Days didn’t happen last year, two year’s worth of awards were given, one for 2020 (items from 2019) and one for 2021 (for items from 2020), Of particular interest to this blog was John Bullard walking away with two awards. One was for emerging scholar. The other was for his three part series that appeared here: “Beyond the Black River: Is it Really Beyond the Brazos River?” You can read parts One, Two, and Three by clicking the links. John will have more essays coming soon. Watch for them. Congratulations John! And all the other winners.

I overslept and didn’t make the bus tour Friday morning, so I hung around the pavilion and visited with people.

Saturday evening was the barbecue one the grounds followed by the poetry reading. One thing that was nice this year was that the house got a state of Texas historical marker, which was unveiled on Friday. See the pictures below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Howard Days was much needed reunion of family, one I hadn’t realized I need to the extent I did until I got there.

I don’t know what exactly is in store for next year, but it’s the 90th anniversary of Conan and the year after that is the 100th anniversary of Weird Tales. Plans haven’t been finalized, but I’m looking forward to them.