This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.
Learning modes and locations may be different depending on the course start date. Please check the location of your chosen course and read our guide to learning modes and locations to help you choose the right course for you.
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
The course is about ideas of solitude in recent writing. We’ll read essays and memoir, including work by Robert Macfarlane and Rebecca Solnit. We’ll also read three novels. Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (2021) is a tale of love and loneliness in an imagined future, told from the perspective of a robot companion to an ailing child. Sayaka Murata’s quirky global hit Convenience Store Woman (2016) is the story of Keiko Furukura, aged 36: she lives alone, she’s worked in a Tokyo convenience store for 18 years – and she’s happy. In Sarah Bernstein’s Study for Obedience (2023), a woman moves to a remote northern country where she finds people reluctant to accept her. ‘An absurdist, darkly funny novel about the rise of xenophobia, as seen through the eyes of a stranger in an unnamed town – or is it? […] what transpires is a meditation on survival itself.’ (The Booker Prize judges, 2023)
What will we cover?
We’ll cover literary and cultural topics on this course:
How these works develop their themes and concerns, including: relationships between humans and the natural world, technology and alienation
The significance of solitude in these texts, considering both individuals’ experiences and the cultural factors that are shaping them, such as gender, age and societal expectations
The narrators of these novels, and how they understand and represent their worlds
How writers’ techniques, in fiction and non-fiction, work to shape our responses as readers.
We’ll think too about how these texts may prompt us to reflect on solitude now. How have our experiences of lockdowns and quarantines changed what solitude means? Can solitude be both a nourishing and a depleting experience? How do societies view those who seek or find themselves in solitude?
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
Discuss these texts confidently, with knowledge of their themes
Develop your understanding and appreciation of narrative techniques and styles
Consider historical and cultural factors that shape ideas and representations of solitude
Take away ideas and suggestions to enhance your future reading.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is open to everyone who is interested to read and discuss fiction and non-fiction. You don’t need to have studied literature or memoirs before.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Work outside the class involves doing the reading for each week, and thinking in advance about questions provided for you by the tutor.
Teaching on the course includes: short presentations from the tutor, group discussion, breakout groups, and close reading and analysis. The tutor will encourage participation and interaction, providing opportunities for you to share responses and ideas.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You’ll need to buy or borrow the following, which are available in paperback:
Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun (Faber and Faber, 2021)
Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman (Granta Books, 2016)
Sarah Bernstein, Study for Obedience (Granta Books, 2023)
The tutor will provide all other reading and class materials.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other courses in the Literature programme under History, Culture and Humanities/Literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Kate is a teacher and researcher in English literature. She holds a PhD in English from Queen Mary, University of London, where she has also taught on a range of literature courses. Kate’s specialist interest is twenty-first-century fiction, and she’s delighted to be teaching new City Lit courses about contemporary writing. Kate is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, and a member of the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies. She has published articles in academic journals and is now working on a book about contemporary novels and letters. Kate is fascinated by new writing, and only gradually coming to terms with the fact that there will never be enough time to read everything she’d like to.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
product
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/exploring-solitude2906739Exploring Solitudehttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/fiction-1024.jpg179179GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Fiction/Courses/Online courses228511771187118817311228511771187<p>This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.</p>002744792Exploring Solitude179179https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/fiction-1024.jpgInStockEveningTueOnlineAvailable courses5-10 weeksWeekday2026-05-12T00:00:00+00:00Beginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allMay 2026Culture, history & humanitiesHLT287179179Exploring Solitude179116179Kate Wilkinsonexploring-solitude/hlt287-2526<p>This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.</p>0000-Available|2026-05-12 00:00:00<p>The course is about ideas of solitude in recent writing. We’ll read essays and memoir, including work by Robert Macfarlane and Rebecca Solnit. We’ll also read three novels. Kazuo Ishiguro’s <em>Klara and the Sun </em>(2021) is a tale of love and loneliness in an imagined future, told from the perspective of a robot companion to an ailing child. Sayaka Murata’s quirky global hit <em>Convenience Store Woman </em>(2016) is the story of Keiko Furukura, aged 36: she lives alone, she’s worked in a Tokyo convenience store for 18 years – and she’s happy. In Sarah Bernstein’s <em>Study for Obedience </em>(2023), a woman moves to a remote northern country where she finds people reluctant to accept her. ‘An absurdist, darkly funny novel about the rise of xenophobia, as seen through the eyes of a stranger in an unnamed town – or is it? […] what transpires is a meditation on survival itself.’ (The Booker Prize judges, 2023)</p><p>This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.</p><p>We’ll cover literary and cultural topics on this course:</p><ul><li>How these works develop their themes and concerns, including: relationships between humans and the natural world, technology and alienation</li><li>The significance of solitude in these texts, considering both individuals’ experiences and the cultural factors that are shaping them, such as gender, age and societal expectations </li><li>The narrators of these novels, and how they understand and represent their worlds</li><li>How writers’ techniques, in fiction and non-fiction, work to shape our responses as readers.</li></ul><p>We’ll think too about how these texts may prompt us to reflect on solitude now. How have our experiences of lockdowns and quarantines changed what solitude means? Can solitude be both a nourishing and a depleting experience? How do societies view those who seek or find themselves in solitude? </p><ul><li>Discuss these texts confidently, with knowledge of their themes </li><li>Develop your understanding and appreciation of narrative techniques and styles</li><li>Consider historical and cultural factors that shape ideas and representations of solitude</li><li>Take away ideas and suggestions to enhance your future reading.</li></ul><p>This course is open to everyone who is interested to read and discuss fiction and non-fiction. You don’t need to have studied literature or memoirs before. </p><p>Work outside the class involves doing the reading for each week, and thinking in advance about questions provided for you by the tutor. </p><p>Teaching on the course includes: short presentations from the tutor, group discussion, breakout groups, and close reading and analysis. The tutor will encourage participation and interaction, providing opportunities for you to share responses and ideas.</p><p>You’ll need to buy or borrow the following, which are available in paperback:</p><p>Kazuo Ishiguro, <em>Klara and the Sun </em>(Faber and Faber, 2021)</p><p>Sayaka Murata, <em>Convenience Store Woman </em>(Granta Books, 2016)</p><p>Sarah Bernstein, <em>Study for Obedience </em>(Granta Books, 2023)</p><p>The tutor will provide all other reading and class materials.</p><p>Look for other courses in the Literature programme under History, Culture and Humanities/Literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>LiteratureFictionvirtual179179116HLT287NONETue12/05/26 - 30/06/2618:00 - 19:3018:0019:308 sessions (over 8 weeks)85-10 weeksEveningWeekdayOnlineOnlineKate WilkinsonBeginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allAvailable courses2026-05-12T00:00:00+00:00May 2026Culture, history & humanities179179Exploring Solitudeexploring-solitude/hlt287-2526<p>This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.</p>0000-Available|2026-05-12 00:00:00<p>The course is about ideas of solitude in recent writing. We’ll read essays and memoir, including work by Robert Macfarlane and Rebecca Solnit. We’ll also read three novels. Kazuo Ishiguro’s <em>Klara and the Sun </em>(2021) is a tale of love and loneliness in an imagined future, told from the perspective of a robot companion to an ailing child. Sayaka Murata’s quirky global hit <em>Convenience Store Woman </em>(2016) is the story of Keiko Furukura, aged 36: she lives alone, she’s worked in a Tokyo convenience store for 18 years – and she’s happy. In Sarah Bernstein’s <em>Study for Obedience </em>(2023), a woman moves to a remote northern country where she finds people reluctant to accept her. ‘An absurdist, darkly funny novel about the rise of xenophobia, as seen through the eyes of a stranger in an unnamed town – or is it? […] what transpires is a meditation on survival itself.’ (The Booker Prize judges, 2023)</p><p>This online literature course studies recent fiction and memoir to explore representations and ideas of solitude. Reading twenty-first-century texts, we’ll consider stories told from different perspectives. We’ll think about how solitude is shaped by, among other things, technology, a search for self-knowledge, difference and societal expectations.</p><p>We’ll cover literary and cultural topics on this course:</p><ul><li>How these works develop their themes and concerns, including: relationships between humans and the natural world, technology and alienation</li><li>The significance of solitude in these texts, considering both individuals’ experiences and the cultural factors that are shaping them, such as gender, age and societal expectations </li><li>The narrators of these novels, and how they understand and represent their worlds</li><li>How writers’ techniques, in fiction and non-fiction, work to shape our responses as readers.</li></ul><p>We’ll think too about how these texts may prompt us to reflect on solitude now. How have our experiences of lockdowns and quarantines changed what solitude means? Can solitude be both a nourishing and a depleting experience? How do societies view those who seek or find themselves in solitude? </p><ul><li>Discuss these texts confidently, with knowledge of their themes </li><li>Develop your understanding and appreciation of narrative techniques and styles</li><li>Consider historical and cultural factors that shape ideas and representations of solitude</li><li>Take away ideas and suggestions to enhance your future reading.</li></ul><p>This course is open to everyone who is interested to read and discuss fiction and non-fiction. You don’t need to have studied literature or memoirs before. </p><p>Work outside the class involves doing the reading for each week, and thinking in advance about questions provided for you by the tutor. </p><p>Teaching on the course includes: short presentations from the tutor, group discussion, breakout groups, and close reading and analysis. The tutor will encourage participation and interaction, providing opportunities for you to share responses and ideas.</p><p>You’ll need to buy or borrow the following, which are available in paperback:</p><p>Kazuo Ishiguro, <em>Klara and the Sun </em>(Faber and Faber, 2021)</p><p>Sayaka Murata, <em>Convenience Store Woman </em>(Granta Books, 2016)</p><p>Sarah Bernstein, <em>Study for Obedience </em>(Granta Books, 2023)</p><p>The tutor will provide all other reading and class materials.</p><p>Look for other courses in the Literature programme under History, Culture and Humanities/Literature at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>LiteratureFictionconfigurable
11881187Fictionhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/humanities/literature/fiction1/2/285/1177/1187/11881/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Literature/Fiction
