Explore Culture, History & Humanities Courses
Explore our extraordinary range of History, Culture and Writing courses and lectures. We offer both introductory and specialist in-depth courses to suit all levels of interest and experience, from ‘How to read a film’ and World literature, to Creative non-fiction writing courses and American history and Politics courses.
Our tutors are experts in their fields and experienced educators; many have published, teach in universities or share their expertise in the media. Tutors share their knowledge and passion through presentations, readings, interactive discussion and exercises, analysis, and other activities.
Many students return to take more courses, telling us they enjoy being part of our City Lit Learning community.
Our popular courses often sell out quickly, so we invite you to browse and book your place now.
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- Craft focus: grammar, syntax and style for creative writers - getting started
Course start date: Sat 10 May 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: William BradyGreat poetry and prose begin when the writer puts the right words in the right places. Learn how and why the rules and conventions of language matter in this new course, which combines creative writing with a review of essential points of grammar.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing and rewriting fairytales Course start date: Sun 11 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: KR MoorheadOnce upon a time there was a City Lit workshop all about writing fairytales. The quest: to inspire writers to pen stories of love, fear, forests, revenge, dragons, witches, kings, queens, frogs and magic.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - The British Horror film beyond Hammer Course start date: Sat 17 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyNight of the Demon (1957), The Wicker Man (1973) and Frightmare (1974) form part of a less familiar, though equally striking, horror tradition than that of Hammer, and often in very different terms. Explore chillers from the 1930s and 40s, the proliferation of horror in 1950s, 60s and 70s along with more recent examples, while assessing a range of critical accounts of British horror beyond Hammer.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - The Miracle of Prose Poetry: Baudelaire and beyondCourse start date: Sat 17 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansWhat is prose poetry? What makes prose poetry different from line-broken poetry? Why might poets choose to write in this form? Come and explore the complexities and possibilities of this provocative form in a supportive group context.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Introduction to Islam: historical emergence, current issuesCourse start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Farid PanjwaniThe course is about exploring Muslim history: What is Islam? Who is a Muslim? This course explores these questions through a study of the Quran, the Prophet and the socio-political and religious developments in the early history of Muslims. You may discover that there is more than meets the eye. - How to get an agent Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil ArkseyThis workshop, designed for authors who have finished their manuscript, offers practical advice on finding and approaching a literary agent.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Create your first poetry collection Course start date: Sat 7 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
You've written and workshopped your poetry, and now you're ready to create your first collection. But where do you begin with that process? This workshop offers instruction and advice on putting together your first poetry collection.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing poetry: getting started Course start date: Thu 12 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Billie ManningThis short, fun workshop is the perfect starting point for students who are writing for the first time or new to the poetry path. Join us for thought-provoking writing exercises and poetry theory for beginners.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - How to pitch your screenplay Course start date: Sat 5 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Alan NixonYou've worked hard on a screenplay but how do you sell it? This short intensive course identifies tools you can select to create a compelling Pitch Treatment.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing flash fiction: getting started Course start date: Sun 3 Aug 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lucy PopescuA sideways glance: succinct, powerful. This short workshop on the essential components of flash fiction will teach you to tell a complete story in very few words.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Hitchcock's Horror Thrillers 2: The Birds, scene by sceneCourse start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyHitchcock's The Birds (1963), sees the director exploring a familiar theme: the 'romantic couple' tested by suspenseful events. But unlike his glossy 1950s hits, Hitchcock opts for muted visuals and performances in an unflinching examination of femininity under threat and masculine cruelty, framed by a dystopian revenge of nature narrative. Explore the master's last great film, scene by scene.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Realism and Genre: British Cinema in the 1960sCourse start date: Sat 22 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyDuring the 1960s British cinema re-established itself as a leading producer of films, including realist dramas such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), and action and adventure fantasies with the highly popular James Bond films. This course explores these developments through a range of critical approaches and considers the way in which they contributed to a revitalised British cinema.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - History of ideas: the invention of ChristmasCourse start date: Sat 13 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Angela PlattBeginning around the middle of the 19th century, a ‘new Christmas’ came into the fore; a reinvented Christmas, if you will. Why did this Christmas shift as it did – to produce the modern celebration many people still enjoy today? In this course, the stories of those groups and individuals who impacted this ‘reinvention of Christmas’ will be shared.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Craft focus: introduction to novel plotting Course start date: Sun 18 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Online
Explore different approaches to novel plotting and learn how to plot your own novel successfully in this short course suitable for those who have begun writing a novel.
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