Pulp Author Talbot Mundy

Talbot Mundy is an interesting figure in the literary genre of pulp fiction. His life experiences formed the basis for his stories, which largely involved fantasy elements and were usually set in Africa or Asia. While not matching the science fiction genre of most of the pulp magazines of the time, the writing of Mundy was still popular, mainly because readers saw the life in these foreign destinations as being from another world. To understand how Talbot Mundy, who also wrote under the name of Walter Galt, moved to the top of pulp fiction, a person must first learn about the early life and experiences of the writer.

Before pulp fiction became a common literary genre, a young Talbot Mundy ran away from his London home at the age of 16 to explore the world, with journeys into Africa, India, and many other points in eastern Asia. While there, he saw an unfamiliar world and the experiences of the British rule in India obviously influenced him greatly. After six years of traveling, Mundy moved to the United States, determined to start his literary career with the new pulp magazines that were beginning to appear and were growing in popularity.

The first pulp fiction story that Talbot Mundy was able to publish in a magazine was called Pig-sticking in India. Drawing on a common British activity in India, the story found a welcome audience that was interested in how other cultures of the world lived. From the early pulp magazine, Mundy also began to write novels that were well received and are part of his entire literary career output. Talbot Mundy has been cited many times as an inspiration for many later fantasy writers, including such notable authors as Robert A. Heinlein, Andrei Norton, Daniel Easterman, and Marion Zimmer Bradley.