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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- Reading for children's writers
Course start date: Mon 18 Sep 2023Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Penny JoelsonExplore recently published successful books for children, mainly by UK authors, and produce your own writing inspired by them. The course will cover pictures books, middle grade and young adult.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £95.00 - Craft focus: grammar, syntax, and style for creative writers Course start date: Mon 17 Apr 2023 (and 3 other dates)
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.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 - Creative non-fiction Course start date: Mon 17 Apr 2023 (and 13 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Paul LaffanExplore practical and imaginative approaches to creative non fiction, including travel writing, life writing and the essay. Analyse published work, produce your own pieces, and benefit from detailed feedback.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £209.00 - Fin de siecle writers: Oscar Wilde to Olive SchreinerCourse start date: Mon 25 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Megan BeechThis online course will look at the unique style of writers who emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. We’ll explore fin de siècle writers who were grappling with new questions of modernity. Using the exciting backdrop of the 1890s, this course explores the cultural innovations of the period alongside the works of Oscar Wilde and other writers of this period.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - The greatest films of all time: Sight & Sound 2022 pollCourse start date: Mon 25 Sep 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John WischmeyerWhat makes a great film? Who made it great? And who decides if it’s great? Every decade since 1952 Sight and Sound magazine has published a critics’ poll of the 100 greatest films ever made—cinema’s most influential works, as well as modern masterpieces which found immediate acclaim. This course analyses the poll and views the films and asks what makes a masterpiece? The course will also examine various means of critical analysis, including genre, authorship and spectatorship.Full fee £269.00 - Great essayists: humourists, firebrands and provocateursCourse start date: Mon 23 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandFrom Henry David Thoreau and George Orwell to James Baldwin and Rebecca Solnit, the essay exists as a literary vehicle for urgent ideas in a range of skillfully controlled literary voices. This class examines the work of classic essayists, delving into the work of both impassioned and reflective non-fiction writers.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Writing for children: advancedCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Penny JoelsonThis supportive and interactive course for advanced children's writers will help deepen your understanding of the genre and acquire techniques to hone your writing.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £95.00 - Contemporary cinema: the best films of the yearCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John WischmeyerThis course on contemporary/current cinema crucially coincides with the wide variety of films released during Bafta/Oscars awards season. It provides a weekly ‘what’s on’ of new releases. The first session is a wide-ranging discussion and debate about favourite films of the past year, from which emerges a definitive student list of best films, modified as we view and review current films week-by-week. This course is now more timely than ever as we continue to support cinema-going. The course meets in City Lit’s own Cultureplex cinema at Keeley Street.Full fee £199.00 - Understanding the modern worldCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerExplore the ideas of four key thinkers whose ideas have vitally shaped our world. Examine their views on morality, meaning, the role and status of women, human nature, political and economic injustice and much more.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Money – myths, magic, morals and markets Course start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christian MichelMoney is the most powerful energy in the world. Without understanding its nature, its function, where it comes from, and how to control it, it will badly burn us.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £123.00 - Communism in the USSR: 1945-1991 Course start date: Mon 15 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Nick MorganThis course is an introduction to the history of the Soviet regime from the moment of its victory in the Second World
War to its collapse in 1991.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 - Anthropology: language, culture, communicationCourse start date: Mon 22 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Max CarocciExplore the different ways in which humans communicate socially via culture. The course's thematic approach covers topics such as language, art, and social relations.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 - Heaven and hell in world religionsCourse start date: Mon 29 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingCompare and contrast the afterlife beliefs of the five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Explore how these ideas developed and influenced each other.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Transatlantic literatureCourse start date: Mon 5 Feb 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard NilandThis class examines transatlantic literature, embarking on a voyage of intercontinental literary exploration to investigate the history of literary exchanges between Europe and the Americas. From the Hispanic Atlantic and the Black Atlantic to the French and British Atlantic, we encounter a rich body of important writing that charts the unfolding relationship between the new and old worlds.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Editing your children's novel
Course start date: Mon 24 Apr 2023 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Penny JoelsonIf you have a first draft of a novel for children or young adults that is ready for editing, this lively course will help you to get your manuscript into shape for submission to agents.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £159.00
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