Sigma Terra Corps, Sigma TC, is a Swedish science fiction

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, founded 5 December 1976 in

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon Wa ...

by Wolf von Witting, Jörg Litschke and Johan Richter.

History

It was in the beginning one of many fan-clubs devoted to the German

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

-series

Perry Rhodan ''Perry Rhodan'' is a West Germany, West German/Germany, German space opera franchise, named after its hero. It commenced in 1961 and has been ongoing for decades, written by an ever-changing team of authors. Having sold approximately two billi ...

, but this changed early on to a more general interest in

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

. The club peaked in 1982 with more than 220 members, in Germany and Sweden. Its German branch withered away by the end of the 1980s.

Ralph Lundsten Ralph Lundsten (born 6 October 1936) is a Swedish composer of electronic music, as well as a film director, artist and author. He was born and raised in Ersnäs, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden, and now lives in Nacka on the outskirts of Stock ...

became a member in 1979 and hosted several gatherings in his studio and home, Villa Frankenburg. He also composed the

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

for Sigma TC's radio show, which was broadcast on

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

's local radio in 1982. In 1980 the club initiated a sequence of local

science fiction conventions Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

, NasaCon, running for 11 consecutive years. The name of the convention was an abbreviation of

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mil ...

s convention.

was "Guest of Honour" at the first event in 1980. NasaCon also featured the journalist Anders Palm in 1981, Lars-Olov Strandberg in 1984, Per Insulander in 1985, the author Jörgen Peterzén in 1986,

Hans Arnold Hans Arnold (22 April 1925 – 25 October 2010) was an artist, born in Switzerland, who lived and worked in Sweden from 1947 until his death in 2010. He illustrated many magazines and books. He is perhaps best known for his illustrations for the ...

in 1987 and Norwegian author Oyvind Myhre in 1988. The main production behind the convention was done by Wolf von Witting, George Bobjörk (both from 1980) and Ahrvid Engholm (from 1981 on). NasaCon 11 was hosted in

Conference Center on 6–8 July in 1990. Guests of Honour were

Brian Aldiss Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for ...

, Harry Harrison and Sam J Lundwall. During the years 1992-1996 all activities of the club were officially suspended, but many former members kept meeting simply out of common interests. This led to a re-launch of activities in 1997. 7-9 July 2000, NasaCon was also Swecon, the national Swedish convention. Guests of Honour were

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

and

John-Henri Holmberg John-Henri Bertilson Holmberg (born 22 June 1949 in Stockholm) is a Swedish author, critic, publisher and translator, and a well-known science fiction fan. In the early 1960s he edited ''Science fiction Forum'' with Bertil Mårtensson and Mat ...

. The convention was run in a joint operation with Stockholm Trekkers. The event received considerable attention in media, with covering reports on TV, radio and major newspapers. Members of Sigma TC also collaborated on SWECON'83, SWECON'85, Junicon'99, Fantastika 2001 and Stocon 2002. After 2008 the activities in the club again went into decline.

Special events

* An exhibition about science fiction, in January 1987 at the library in Fisksätra, with lectures among others by Swedish author Sten Andersson and Ahrvid Engholm.

Publications in Swedish

* Fannibal & Elefanten, news

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

, 25 issues 1989-1991, editor: Mats Lignell, Anders Pemer and Wolf von Witting. * JuniCon 1999 Programbok, editor: Wolf von Witting. * NasaCon 11 Programbok, 1990, editor: Mats Lignell. * NasaCon 2000 Programbok, editor: Anders Reuterswärd. * Sigma TC Info, news leaflet after 1997, editor: George Bobjörk. * Tid & Rymd, the club-magazine (various editors), appeared with 20 issues between 1979 and 1989.

References

* {{cite web, title=About Sigma TC, url=http://sigmatc.se/sigmatc.html, publisher=Sigma Terra Corps, accessdate=14 February 2013, author=Wolf von Witting
CounterClock#17
Science fiction fandom Clubs and societies in Sweden