Literature Courses in London
Explore our exciting range of Literature courses, from Literary History, to specialist courses in Fiction, Poetry and Drama. We offer introductory and in-depth courses to suit all levels of interest and experience, where you can revisit classic texts and discover new writers.
Study in-person or online from the comfort of home, with classes that allow you to participate in discussions with fellow adult students and share your passion for literature as part of a learning community. We offer daytime, evening and weekend courses, both short and long.
Our tutors are experts in their fields and experienced educators; many also teach in universities or share their expertise in the media. Tutors share their knowledge and passion for fiction, poetry and drama through presentations, readings, interactive discussion, analysis, and other activities.
Many students return to take more courses, telling us they enjoy being part of our City Lit literary community; others are inspired to progress onto university study.
Our popular courses often sell out quickly, so we invite you to browse and book your place now.
- 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 - Edith Wharton, Henry James and the Decoration of HousesCourse start date: Sat 14 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Phyllis RichardsonEdith Wharton and Henry James had a keen eye for a well-designed and tastefully decorated house and both brought us depictions of splendid interiors in their novels set in ‘the Gilded Age’. We’ll discuss the changing tastes at the turn of the century, and how both authors used interior decoration to reflect the moral turn of their characters and the age.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Demystifying PoetryCourse start date: Sat 21 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Whether you are new to poetry or an experienced reader of verse, this course will enable and enhance your enjoyment by exploring the techniques that poetry uses to affect our response and create meaning. Exploring rhythm and rhyme, voice, mood, imagery, language and allusions, we will focus on a diverse range of poetic examples to examine how this powerful form of literature works to create emotion and connection with the reader.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Landmark Poetry: places and spacesCourse start date: Sat 28 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
What is the role of poetry ‘off the page’ in public spaces? Can a poem change the way we might re-encounter cultural history? Do statues serve as ‘informants’ from the past? We read poetry by Jackie Kay, Lemn Sissay and Dorothea Smartt commissioned for bridges, pavements, monuments, even super sewer ventilation shafts to identify the challenges, revisions and celebrations that emerge from exploring the place of poetry in public spaces.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - 19th Century Movements in Italian Literature: Manzoni, Verga, TarchettiCourse start date: Sat 12 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francesco BucciolDiscover some key literary movements and novels that influenced the Italian cultural scene in the 19th century, through the study of three writers: Alessandro Manzoni, Giovanni Verga and Tarchetti.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Literature taster
Course start date: Sat 13 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Patricia SweeneyDo you want to explore how to go about understanding a poem? How to do a close reading of a work of fiction? Come and find out what makes a literature class at City Lit so special.
The course also presents an overview of our upcoming literature offering in fiction, poetry, drama and literary non-fiction.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Introduction to Global LiteratureCourse start date: Sat 20 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca JonesAre you curious about reading literature from across the world? Would you like to encounter some of the world’s finest literary works, reading across cultures and national borders, and in translation? This in-college session will give you a flavour of what it’s like to study and explore what global literature is, reading excerpts from major works.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - The East End in Fact and FictionCourse start date: Sat 27 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah WiseCovering the early 19th century to the early 20th century, we will examine the East End and analyse how it was portrayed in works of fiction, thinking about how imaginative fiction and historical fact intertwine to create local legend.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - What is a Short Story?Course start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alexander Fairbairn-DixonWhat is a short story? Come and discuss its characteristics, its length, design, mood and style. What distinguishes it from other kinds of short narrative? We’ll compare short stories to other forms, such as myths, legends, anecdotes, fabliaux, parables, fables, and ‘tales’. We’ll look at some of the greatest practitioners including Edgar Allan Poe, Katherine Mansfield, and O’ Henry.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - An introduction to poetryCourse start date: Sat 25 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansCome and revel in the possibilities of expression and form offered by poems across time, guided by lively group discussion and tutor expertise. - A Day with T.S. EliotCourse start date: Sat 15 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Suzannah V. Evans, Phyllis RichardsonCome and explore the Nobel Prize-winning poet, T. S. Eliot, in a stimulating group context where our focus will be on immersing ourselves in the language and contexts of his striking poetry.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Dante's Divine Comedy: an introductionCourse start date: Sat 15 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francesco BucciolThe Divine Comedy is an imaginary journey through the three realms of the afterlife, a fascinating compendium of life in 14th century Italy. Dante's ability to depict humanity in all its aspects is timelss and has fascinated readers ever since.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Borderlines of Madness in 20th century FictionCourse start date: Sat 29 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah WiseWe will explore various themes related to ‘insanity’ and altered states of consciousness by examining a number of 19th-century works of fiction. Novelists and poets often had the greatest insights into the workings of the mind, and many Victorian psychiatrists cited works of fiction in their case studies. Among the authors we will cover are Charlotte Bronte, Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Gogol, Herman Melville and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - 'You Must Change Your Life': why Rilke matters Course start date: Sat 14 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithWe explore how the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) wrestled with some of the deepest issues of the modern spirit, such as the need for non-religious faith and the importance of art to give meaning to life, through writing beautiful, deeply moving poems.
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