Zombies to sci-fi opera: Worldcon arrives in Glasgow

However the range of panels that are going ahead at the SEC campus will cover a huge amount of topics.

This can be straightforward in scope, such as discussions marking anniversaries of films (including sci-fi adventure Stargate and Sean Connery’s cult classic Zardoz) or examinations of serious issues, like the growth of artificial intelligence.

Then there are more off-the wall items , from Deliciously Evil: Villain Romances and Why We Love Them to The Many Legs of SF: Creepy Crawlies in Space and Best Cats of SFF, where a panel will discuss “their favourite felines.”

A major event comes on Thursday night with Morrow’s Isle – a libretto written by Scottish author Ken MacLeod about a secretive scientific project on the Clyde, and featuring musicians from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

“One of the things that we were really keen on doing was making sure this was a Scottish Worldcon,” adds Esther, who grew up reading sci-fi greats like Doris Lessing and Arthur C Clarke.

“So we have partnered with local groups like Glasgow University, we’re holding outreach events in libraries and we’ve got Scottish language items in the programme.

“There are items on Iain M Banks and Alasdair Grey and on integrating Scottishness into sci-fi writing. Worldcon hasn’t been in the UK for 10 years so we had a lot to choose from with ideas.”