Science Fiction Association membership 1937-1939

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The Science Fiction Association (SFA) was the UK's first national fan organisation. It was founded at the 1937 Leeds Convention and had about 144 members through to January 1939 when the last issue of Novae Terrae, its official organ, was published. The Association was suspended on the outbreak of the Second World War and never resurrected. It was succeeded by the British Fantasy Society (BFS) in 1942.

If a full membership list was ever published it hasn't been located as of 2024. However, the names of new members were published in Novae Terrae starting with #11 (April 1937), and other individuals can be extrapolated as members based on names of officers and reports of branch meetings.

What follows is a likely incomplete listing of SFA members. The date following each name is that of the earliest issue of Novae Terrae in which their membership is noted. While the SFA was a British organisation, it included a number of members from other countries, notably the United States. Overseas members are marked *. Honorary members are marked ‡.

Note: the following is a work in progress. Unlinked names are being checked to see if they already exist in F3 under variants.

Novae Terrae #11 (April 1937) notes Miss D. E. Essam as attending a meeting of the Nuneaton branch as a prospective member. There is no evidence that she did in fact join. If she had done so she would likely have been the SFA's first female member, ahead of Alicia Feather who joined with #13 (June 1937).

Novae Terrae #26 (September 1938) lists a new member 'F. Brady (Los Angeles)'. Brady was a pseudonym of Forrest J Ackerman who was already a member.


Club 19371939
This is a club page. Please extend it by adding information about when and where the club met, when and by whom it was founded, how long it was active, notable accomplishments, well-known members, clubzines, any conventions it ran, external links to the club's website, other club pages, etc.

When there's a floreat (Fl.), this indicates the time or times for which we have found evidence that the club existed. This is probably not going to represent the club's full lifetime, so please update it if you can!

Category:List

Category:UK

  1. Novae Terrae #25 reports 'F. J. Arnold' as a new member. Other issues include contributions credited to 'Frank Arnold', 'Frank E. Arnold' and 'Frank Edward Arnold'. As J was also one of his middle initials it seems at least likely that F. J. Arnold is Frank Arnold.