Must You Live In The Real World?
A four-part online creative writing course with Sarah Byrne
Mondays | Every Fortnight | 7.30–9pm Irish Time (Zoom)
Begins June 22~Ends August 3rd 2026
Session One June 22nd: The perception of value in Etgar Keret(Bring crayons or pencils, please)
Session Two July 6th: Eka Kurniawan and Everyday Magic
Session Three July 20th: Helen Oyeyemi and the Boundaries of Reality
Session Four August 3rd: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
All materials provided in advance
All sessions recorded and available for 3 months
Fee: €100
What do we mean when we talk about “the real world”? Perhaps, as a child, you wanted to become an artist, a writer, an astronaut—and were told to be realistic. To live in the real world. But what does that actually mean, and what happens to us when we stop playing, imagining, or experimenting?
Must You Live In The Real World? is a playful, experimental creative writing course built around bold short fiction, strange prompts, small creative missions, and community.
Across four live sessions or recorded, whatever your preference, we’ll read four exciting contemporary writers, explore techniques for generating original work, and begin writing our own surreal stories.
Between sessions, you’ll receive gentle prompts and creative assignments designed to reconnect you with your imagination and everyday surroundings.
This is not a traditional workshop.
There is no requirement to share your work.
The course is open to anyone curious about writing, whether you write regularly or haven’t written in years.
The course also invites participants to step away from the noise of social media and re-engage with their own version of the real world, whatever that may look like.
Proceeds will support writing programmes for incarcerated and post-incarcerated women in Louisiana, which Sarah will facilitate in person later this year. This is part of the wider Disaster School project.
sarahbyrnewrite.com 