The Volume of Violence: The Power of Gentleness
February 12th-April 16th 2026
Background:
My writing and teaching are shaped by long engagement with violence at its edges: its aftermaths, its quiet continuities, and the forms of witnessing that take place when harm intersects with ordinary life. I’ve worked in and alongside violence-charged environments including prisons, courtrooms, and mental health systems, and my practice is informed by training in criminology, forensic medicine, restorative justice, and mental health advocacy, as well as by my life as a writer.
I’m interested in bodies that are vulnerable, regulated, or exposed without consent, and in the ethical complexity of observing suffering; what it means to be entrusted with another’s story, and where the limits of intervention lie. This attention to partial agency, shame, care, and responsibility shapes how I teach: carefully, rigorously, and with an awareness of what writing can open as well as what it cannot resolve. This masterclass grows out of that work. It is designed to support writers engaged in sustained thinking about violence and gentleness, offering language and form adequate to what they already carry.
Our three very special guests are forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead, poet Matthew Dickman, and writer Édouard Louis. By the end of the programme, you will have identified a writing project of your own that engages deeply with these themes and formulated a clear, practical roadmap for its realisation.
Course Director Sarah Byrne Bio
Programme
Every Thursday, 7pm-8.30pm Irish Standard Time on Zoom
Week One (February 12th): Introduction to the Volume of Violence–The Power of Gentleness
Week Two (February 19th): Special Guest Dr Gwen Adshead
Week Three: (February 26th):Non-Fiction: ‘Black Body’ and ‘Bad Laws’ by Teju Cole
Week Four: (March 5th) Visual Art I: The Work of Ana Mendieta
Week Five: (March 12th) Visual Art II: The Dress: The Work of Anselm Kiefer & Alexander Lee McQueen
Week Six: (March 19th) Special Guest Poet Matthew Dickman
Week Seven: (March 26th) Eco Violence and Gentleness in the Poetry of W.S. Merwin
Week Eight: (April 2nd) Fiction: ‘Thinking Without a Bannister’ by Hannah Arendt
Week Nine: (April 9th) Fiction: Anna Burns
Week Ten: (April 16th ): Special Guest Writer Édouard Louis
sarahbyrnewrite.com 