Author Archives: Damien Walter

YouTube recently reminded me that it will be five years (on 7th May) since I uploaded my first video and began my journey into making online courses for writers and storytellers. Since then my courses on Udemy and Skillshare have had over 35,000 enrolled students worldwide. That success has also brought new opportunities. This weekContinue reading “My new collaboration with Academia.edu”

The first clue was mud all over the floor. Then I saw the doors of my wardrobe were open. The wardrobe where I keep my camera equipment. The camera equipment which was now gone, gone, gone. I stomped around my house for the next five minutes searching for my obviously stolen camera equipment. Honestly, I’veContinue reading “I’ve never shouted so loud”

Long time readers will know I am a super-fan of the Culture novels by Iain M Banks. I’ve essayed and videoed them half to death already, and in recent years have read or re-read almost Banksy’s entire output. Great artists steal, goes the saying, and Iain Banks was something of a magpie for cool ideasContinue reading “The book that inspired the Culture of Iain M Banks”

“The only people who hate escapism are jailers.” The quote is attributed to both C S Lewis and to J R R Tolkien. Whomever said it first, it captures the spirit that both wrote their fantasy stories in. A generation later, the fantasy writer Michael Moorcock revised the quip: “Jailers love escapism — it’s escapeContinue reading “Is geek culture mere escapism?”

I loved short form scifi storytelling. Mirrorshades, the anthology that defined cyberpunk, made me want to write SF. In my 20’s I published two dozen short stories. I really enjoyed subbing stories to these mysterious old magazines that – back in the day – often still demanded you send manuscripts in PRINT! In 2008 IContinue reading “We need the spirit of Dangerous Visions (but we don’t need Dangerous Visions)”