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.
- 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 - Keats and eternityCourse start date: Sun 18 May 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Laurie SmithIn the house where many of them were written, we will explore why Keats’s poems are regarded as exceptionally beautiful. How did he achieve this? We will see that it wasn’t luck or simply inspiration, but the result of choices which reflect important aspects of Keats’ personality. Includes ‘Ode to a Nightingale’, Ode to a Grecian Urn’ and ‘To Autumn’.
This course will take place at Keats House, 10 Keats Grove, Hampstead, London NW3 2RR. - A day at the V&A: an introduction to the collections Course start date: Mon 19 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Elizabeth EyresSpend a fascinating day at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum exploring a range of galleries. We shall be looking at the decorative arts, paintings, sculpture and design from across the world and across the centuries in this remarkable museum.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Mews, monuments and museumsCourse start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneThis circular walk explores the alleys lanes, squares and delightful mews houses and passes a disused tube station in the mainly in the Knightsbridge conservation area and contrasts with the grand museums, institutions and monuments built in South Kensington (Albertopolis) developed with profits of the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in 1851. Meets outside the main entrance to the V&A ends outside the Natural History Museum. Meets outside the main entrance to the V&A ends outside the Natural History Museum.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Craft focus: novel plotting workshop (advanced) Course start date: Sun 15 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosie ChardGain fresh insight into your novel's plot in this advanced course designed to help you find a structure that showcases the story you want to tell. Suitable for those with a novel in progress.
Please note: sessions include a 1-hour break. - 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 - Walk and Talk: Around Chaucer's LondonCourse start date: Sun 21 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingJoin Vanessa King to explore Life in London in the Age of Chaucer (c.1343-1400) on this morning talk & afternoon walk.
Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Modernist Hampstead Course start date: Sun 28 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneA tour considering the history of the city which is largely under our feet, we will discuss the tube and post office tunnels, water conduits, hidden rivers, and archaeological remains from burials and buildings found in the city. - 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 - Art and Refugees in HampsteadCourse start date: Sun 2 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneCome on a walking tour of Hampstead discovering where refugee artists from the Second World War lived and the people and institutions which made great efforts to save and support them.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - The meaning of light: symbolism and religious objects in world faiths Course start date: Sun 16 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneJoin this museum tour to explore world religions and the objects associated with light, from different faiths and festivals. NB: This course will take place at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The meeting point is the V&A grand entrance. - Study day: Rembrandt and 17th century printmakingCourse start date: Sun 7 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Caroline RaeRembrandt, one of the most famous painters of the Dutch Republic, was also an innovative printmaker. He produced a large oeuvre of printed works, which in their expressive effect and astounding use of light can be considered artworks which rival his paintings. This course will offer a deep dive into Rembrandt’s practice and the seventeenth century Netherlands to explore how he experimented with the medium. Rembrandt as a collector of prints will also be discussed.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - 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. - Study day: Fakes, forgeries and the experience of artCourse start date: Sun 11 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayWhat gives an artwork get its value? Investigate the very fine boundary between the real and the fake and who makes the call by looking at various interpretations of authenticity.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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