Explore History, Culture & Writing
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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- The 60 minute writer
Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023 (and 10 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghFit creative writing into your busy day: a relaxed, informal rolling programme for writers of all levels of experience who enjoy being thrown new ideas and experimenting with poetry and prose.Full fee £109.00 Senior fee £109.00 Concession £55.00 - Ways into creative writing Course start date: Sun 1 Oct 2023 (and 15 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Rosie ChardWant to have a go at creative writing in a supportive environment? Join one of these introductory courses. Guided exercises will give you the tools to explore language creatively and find your own writing voice.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £209.00 Concession £105.00 - How to get an agent Course start date: Sat 30 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sophie McKenzieThis intensive workshop offers students insider, need-to-know information on securing a literary agent.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Writing and rewriting fairytales Course start date: Tue 3 Oct 2023 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Victoria M. AdamsOnce 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.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Write a short story in a weekend Course start date: Sat 7 Oct 2023 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vicky GrutTurn your great idea into a short story on this fun practical course. Through a series of inspiring exercises, you'll be introduced to some key fiction-writing techniques and encouraged to draft a short story from beginning to end.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £50.00 - Craft focus: character in fiction Course start date: Sat 7 Oct 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghIn fiction, character and plot are inseparable elements of craft. Without characters there can be no action or plot. In this short course you will learn how to create characters that can drive a narrative forward and deepen its themes.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Black British literature of the early twentieth centuryCourse start date: Sat 7 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Rebecca BalfourthDiscover Black British Literature in the twentieth century, featuring early work that has become part of the canon. Includes works by Samuel Selvon and Una Marson and an exploration of key themes and styles of narration for the literature of the period.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - London architecture: Renaissance, Baroque and Palladian Course start date: Sat 7 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersFrom the beginnings of Renaissance architecture in Britain, through the Baroque to Palladianism - study key architects including Jones, Wren, Hawksmoor, and Burlington, looking at religious and secular buildings. Includes site visits.Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00 - From page to screen: Sherlock Holmes and Philip MarloweCourse start date: Sat 7 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ellen CheshireThis course explores film adaptations of two great detectives of fiction: Sherlock Holmes and Philip Marlowe. By focusing on one of their most famous novels we will compare the literary and various cinematic versions, analysing themes and characters and discuss how the films adapt the novels to fit the medium of cinema.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Exploring art cinemaCourse start date: Sun 8 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyEstablishing itself in the immediate post-war period, initially in Europe and later in world cinemas, art cinema is characterised by distinctive film styles and narrative structures that set it apart from popular forms of cinematic practice and representation. This course will consider its origins and development, its key films and filmmakers, and critical accounts of the concept art of cinema.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - The Bicycle Thieves at 75Course start date: Sun 8 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Graham RinaldiIn the inaugural 1952 Sight and Sound greatest film of all time poll, Vittorio De Sica’s neo-realist The Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette) was voted in first place. Seventy-five years after its initial release, we will celebrate and analyse the film’s enduring popularity with both audiences and critics alike.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Poetry of the 30s: T.S. Eliot to Dylan ThomasCourse start date: Sun 8 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Phoebe BraithwaiteWedged between the two wars, the poets of the 1930s were drawn to forces larger than themselves. For poets such as W.H. Auden and Louis MacNeice, war, revolution and the allure of communism dwarfed mere personal anxieties. Others – such as William Empson, Kathleen Raine and Dylan Thomas – found a seam of spiritualism in other, more mystical, even Romantic antecedents. Our course traces these discrepant paths through the decade. - Autobiography into fiction: getting started
Course start date: Sat 14 Oct 2023 (and 4 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vicky GrutLearn how to turn real-life experiences into gripping fiction in this fun short course for fiction-writing beginners and experienced writers. Develop your writing skills and explore techniques for transforming personal stories into strong narratives.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £35.00 - Looking together: art as communal spaceCourse start date: Sat 14 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayExplore art as a communal space of conversation. Join this workshop to develop or deepen your art interpretation skills by listening and thinking about the meaning of an artwork collaboratively. This session is part of the 2023 Mental Wealth Festival hosted by City Lit and partners.Full fee £5.00 Senior fee £5.00 Concession £5.00 - Interpreting the Bible: key skills and textsCourse start date: Sat 14 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew GreyDiscover and explore key principles, knowledge and skills for interpreting the Bible, and apply them to select texts from the Old and New Testament.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00
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