Pelikan Hub 2023

Join me for a virtual tour at this year's Pelikan Hub location in Budapest and get to know the organizers and participants through the eyes of an enthusiastic amateur!

Don't be discouraged if you don't yet have a pen from the prestigious Hanover manufacturer, the Pelikan Hub warmly welcomes all fountain pen enthusiasts.

Since 2014, the Pelikan Hub has been a community-building event for fountain pen lovers around the world. This year, collectors and fans of writing instruments celebrated together in 220 cities across 47 countries – of course, Budapest was not left out.

This year's event was a colorful, lively carnival, with plenty of participants, socializing, and information exchange. Some pens even changed hands…

The Budapest hub master this year was Anna Sarkadi-Nagy who is also a fountain pen and calligraphy enthusiast. We gathered at a separate room of a venue in the VIII district at the announced time. For the mandatory group photo, Anna sought help at the counter.

She chose a girl who was writing with a fountain pen at the counter. Is there a more stylish connection than this? The girl took the photo and then stayed with us to chat – it turned out that as a fountain pen enthusiast, she also belongs to our „tribe”…

Old and new participants

Attila Sultis is an indispensable figure in the Hungarian fountain pen community: an incredibly humble and approachable person. At last year's meeting, he easily let me try one of his interesting-looking fountain pens. I later learned that I had held a special and extremely expensive Nakaya Dorsal Fin, which is somewhat of a holy grail in the world of writing instruments. If you're curious about what makes Attila's fountain pen so special, be sure to read the article about the pen!

A participant this year mentioned, that influenced by Attila's article, he bought a Rotring Newton fountain pen. Attila is also involved in calligraphy and has 8-10 pens filled with ink at the same time. I think he creates drawings with impressive detail (and according to his 11,000 followers).

I only had a brief conversation with Melinda Ludányi this year, but her calligraphy workshop held at last year's Pelikan Hub still vividly lives in my memory. It was wonderful to experience the process of creation, as unique Christmas cards came to life with the help of a blank sheet, some ink, and a dip pen.

As a pen forum, it's a good conversation starter if you lay out your existing pens on the table, or you can even offer a few for sale. That's how the TWSBI and Lamy AL-star came into view at last year's hub. This year, Moonman-t and the Fountain Pen Revolution-t I got to know.

Máté Bikfalvi once again brought his impressive Pelikan fountain pen collection. Each pen has its own story, whether it's about the legends surrounding the model or the adventurous tale of acquiring them.

For those who might not know: Máté created the Pennonia ink brand. The only Hungarian ink brand is available in more than 60 colors. I received a great tip from Máté at the event: a few drops of distilled water can likely wash out dried ink. If that doesn't help, rinsing with soapy water can come next.

Zoli Kovács delighted the Hub participants with antique Pelikan fountain pens, and he also brought a few pens for sale. His family has been involved in fountain pen repair for several generations, and he continues this tradition. We were able to hold museum-quality writing instruments, which are true eye-catching rarities. I was captivated by a 1937 Pelikan Toledo, which I thought was adorned with Egyptian hieroglyphs (I believed I saw the falcon-headed Horus in the craftsmanship depicting the pelican bird on the pen body).

The moment when Kovács Zoli and Pethő Sanyi realize they are dressed alike!

Tamás Szűcs was also with us at the event, who, like Zoli, is engaged in repairing antique fountain pens. I was captivated by the old American brands like Shaeffer and Eversharp; I heard about them from him for the first time.

Szabolcs Varga lived in Japan for a decade and brought back the love for Japanese writing instruments. From automatic eraser dispensers to notebooks to Kawaii (cute) stationery, he has many Japanese curiosities. Now I would like to highlight the disposable fountain pens which are actually good to write with.

I met Pethő Sándor at last year's Pelikan Hub. His custom-made fountain pens, running under the Pendors brand name, have undergone significant evolution in a year. Sanyi is an extremely friendly conversational partner, a lover of his profession, and he finds common ground with everyone.

What did I bring back from this year's Pelikan Hub?

The joy of meeting, of wonder, good stories, valuable conversations. And the fantastic Edelstein Rose Quartz ink sent by the Pelikan company to the Hub participants 🙂

It's good to belong to a community that is connected by a shared hobby, the love of writing instruments. Brands, legends, inks, nibs, usage and repair tips, enthusiastic fans will be there to help you, wherever you want to join in.