Maps have always fascinated me. It could be the maps in historical atlases (which I frequently embellished by colouring them), the maps in fantasy books (which I used to pore over for hours), or the maps I made myself of imagined lands and imagined stories. If Alice wondered “what is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?” I could have countered, “and what is the use of a book without a map?” In this presentation I will talk about what maps can offer readers in terms of world creation, suspension of disbelief, and making sense (or not) of the imagined. I also discuss how the use of maps have developed over the years, from seminal adventure and travel stories like Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Stevenson’s Treasure Island, over the fantasy maps of Tolkien and LeGuin, to the present, where maps come in all shapes and designs and can be found in all genres of writing. Maps are not only useful and wonderful to readers, however; they are indispensable to writers as well. Many authors (some mentioned above) have actively used maps in the construction and creation of their narrative universe. But teachers too can use the creative writing potential of maps with their students. Instead of starting with plot, theme or character – the conventional approach – maps allow writers to focus on setting. I have successfully employed this approach in several creative writing classes. In the presentation I will describe this approach, and then turn the presentation into a map-making and storytelling workshop with the participants.