The ‘Critter Captain’ And The 15,000 SciFi Writers Who Call His Website Home

November 19, 2015

Photo: Critters book cover — The cover of a science fiction novel, the author of which is a member of the online critique group critters.org

Twenty years ago when the Internet was still a novelty, University of Denver computer science professor Andrew Burt started an online critique group for science fiction writers. Critters.org now has some 15,000 members around the globe, including a number of professional authors.

Burt's creation may now be the world's oldest and largest online critique group for science fiction, fantasy and horror writers. Since it began in 1995, members of the group have written nearly 400,000 critiques.

Burt, a.k.a. “The Critter Captain” has since retired from the university life but not from Critters. He’s expanded the critique groups to other creative genres including poetry, play-writing and even photography. He spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.