Myth and Magic in Fiction with Leeanne O’Donnell

Course Summary

How to use Irish Mythology as an inspiration in your writing. This will be especially, but not exclusively, useful for writers of Fantasy, Romantasy and Speculative Fiction.

We will look at world building, character development and how to create vivid fictional realities. We’ll be exploring elements like transformation, immortality, multiple dimensions. We’ll look at examples of time warps, magical islands, secret underground worlds, reincarnation, bewitching music, deadly potions, love triangles and characters who turn into animals. Whatever your genre, and whatever your style, you are welcome to come and get inspired by the magical thinking embedded in thousands of years of Irish mythology.

Course Outline

How to expand your imagination and write the impossible while making it believable. We will use examples from Irish myth to explore new ways of imagining characters, places, realities in your writing. We will gain new perspectives by exploring the ancient Irish psyche that first produced these enduring stories and characters.

Week 1 – Characters with extraordinary (impossible!) attributes or powers.

Week 2 – Transformations – write as a tree, as a bird, as a fish, as a river. Shifting shapes and perspectives

Week 3 – Place –  haunted places, magical places, places with memory.

Week 4 – Time – how do Irish myths play with time, how could you play with time in your own writing

Week 5 – Other-worlds – what makes them different ? Who inhabits them ? Where are they ? How might characters change after visiting ?

Week 6 – Curses, blessings, legacies and destinies. How might these concepts help you form character, devise plot and build strong new worlds ?

Participants will be expected to complete a short exercise every week

Course Outcomes

New confidence in their imaginative capacities and writing skills. Inspiration for starting new writing projects and renewed enthusiasm for existing ones. An insight into how the ancient Irish psyche engaged with story to explain the world, and played with reality to expand their minds

Leeanne O’ Donnell is a fiction writer and podcaster. Her first novel Sparks of Bright Matter (Eriu 2024) followed the fortunes of a cast of reprobates seeking enlightenment in18th Century London. Described as ‘Exquisitely deep, beautiful and metaphysical…fast-paced and brilliantly plotted.’ (Irish Times) It was inspired by the whispers of ancient stories buried in the Irish landscape. Her podcast Into the Mythic resurrects Irish myths for today’s world. She was Cork County Writer in Residence 2025

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email bookings@irishwriterscentre.ie.