I thought that I would start the year with a kind of a reference post. Whether you are new to fountain pens or an old hand, I think that you will find something of use here.
Blogs. I am not even going to begin to try to list all of the wonderful and awesome pen, paper and ink blogs which are out there. I am going to refer you to my blogroll with the caveat that I come across wonderful new blogs everyday and cannot keep up with all of them. I don't even begin to think that my blogroll covers them. If you have a pen, paper, ink blog that's not listed, please shoot me an email so that I can add you.
Communities and Forums.
- Fountain Pen Network - the grandaddy
- Pentrace - articles, forums, marketplace
- FP Geeks - the new kid and arguarbly the most active and engaging pen forum around. Home of the FPGeeks podcast
- Fountain Pen Board
- Fountain Pen Classifieds - if you are looking to buy or sell fountain pens, this is the place
- Fountain Pen.it Forum - this is an Italian forum and it is in Italian
- Southeast Pen Collectors Club - I just discovered this group and forum (Jan 20, 2012)
- The Zoss List - I failed to include this in my original post, this is a rather unique format which uses email messaging to communicate with the group, check it out
Organizations.
Pen Collectors of America
PCA Mission
Our organization exists to foster and maintain the integrity of pen collecting, promote the use of fountain pens, encourage and promote effective education, communications and understanding between all collectors, and define pen collecting as an international hobby. Members are interested in the history, manufacture and use of writing instruments. We strive to develop a spirit of camaraderie among the pen collecting community.
Well worth joining. Membership benefits: extensive reference library; The Pennant, published 3 times a year.
Writing Equipment Society
If you are interested in the collection, conservation, study or use of writing equipment – old or new – then you should be interested in our website. Based in the United Kingdom.
Pen Clubs.
The London Pen Club (Ontario)
There are numerous other groups which do not have have individual webpages or FaceBook pages - check the groups page at the Fountain Pen Network and if you cannot find one, put up a post and start your own.
Pen Shows.
Pen shows are a great way to meet other pen people and to learn about pens. The 2012 US calendar is as follows, some of these are links to the 2011 shows since the 2012 shows are still in the planning process.
Philadelphia - January 20-22
Los Angeles - February 16-18
Baltimore - March 2-4
Long Island - March 10-11
Little Rock - March 30-April 1
Atlanta - April 13-15
Chicago - May 3-6
Raleigh - May 31-June 3
Miami - July 13-15 - WOW - went to this link and Bert has used me as a spokesperson - COOL!!
DC Supershow - August 9-12
Dallas - September 21-22
International Calendar.
Southwest Pen Show - Bristol, England - February 12
Eastern Pen Show - Cambridge - March 21
Northern Pen Show - Lytham - April 22
Midland Pen Show - Guildhall Lichfield - June 24
Northeast Pen Show - Newcastle upon Tyne - September 2
Northern Pen Show - Lytham - April 22
Midland Pen Show - Guildhall Lichfield - June 24
Northeast Pen Show - Newcastle upon Tyne - September 2
Lastly Google fountain pens, fountain pen groups and if you still can't find what you are looking for send me an email, I may be able to help.
6 comments:
This is great! Thank you for compiling all these resources!
Marvelous compendium and great resource!!
Thank you so very much! This fabulous list is going to be very helpful.
Sharon
Thanks for pooling this information together for us - very handy, and much appreciated!
This is a really excellent read for me. Must agree that you are one of the coolest bloggers I ever saw. Thanks for posting this useful article.
Thanks for the link to Fountain Pen Classifieds! Working hard to make it the go-to place.
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