From 1968 till 1983, Joachim Walther worked at the literary magazine "Temperamente" and the publishing house "Der Morgen" as editor and publisher. His dismissals there were preceded by disputes about censorship. Afterwards, he worked as a freelance writer, but largely withdrew himself from the official literature scene until 1989. In 1990 he was appointed vice-president of the reformed writers' guild of the GDR. He wrote and published  "Sicherungsbereich Literatur" [Security Area Literature] in 1996, which is still a standard reference about the entanglement of State Security and writers in the GDR. For 20 years he himself was the target of serveral operations of State Security. He has in-depth knowledge of the literary scene of the GDR. Together with Ines Geipel he founded the "Archiv of Suppressed Literature in the GDR".