History, culture & writing

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.

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

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  1. Writing from Life: memoir, autofiction, novels
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 24 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Kate Wilkinson
    What do we want and expect from life stories? On this online literature course we’ll read a selection of fascinating books and extracts, which experiment in different ways to combine stories of personal experience and literary invention. As well as memoirs the course includes ‘autofiction’ – a description for the work of novelists whose material is, explicitly, their own life – and we’ll explore this tricky and sometimes controversial category of writing. We’ll think too about some of the ethical and cultural questions that writing from life can raise, including privacy and a right of reply, and think about factors that may affect a book’s critical reception.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
  2. Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
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  3. Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
    97% of 100
  4. Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £209.00 Concession £105.00
    Rating:
    85% of 100
  5. Friday lates: Surrealism and its international influence
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 27 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sarah Jaffray
    For the 100th anniversary of the movement, explore the impact of surrealism on international artists, social movements and cultural revolutions. Come to understand the historical importance of this massively influential movement.



    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 £19.00 Concession £12.00
  6. Reading for writers: the short story (a fortnightly course)
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 16 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Annabel Banks
    The best way to write good short stories is to read a lot of good ones first. Dive into the best of short fiction, explore point-of-view, character and pacing, and begin to apply the lessons learnt to your own writing in this fortnightly course.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £70.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  7. America in the 20s: culture and society
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 1 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Pauline Greene, Mark Malcomson, Dale Mineshima-Lowe, Paul Sutton, Patricia Sweeney, Ian Tucknott
    From the Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance, to Prohibiton and the Depression, this online intertextual course explores the political, social and cultural context of 1920s America through a study of literature, history, music, film and art of the period. With different tutors for each specialism, the course provides a 'taster' in each subject as a gateway to further study in understanding this fascinating period in American culture and society.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
  8. Ways into advanced fiction, poetry and drama: the dawning of modernity
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 2 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Patricia Sweeney
    For those who want to further develop their literary skills, focusing on the three main literary genres of fiction,



    poetry and drama. Read, analyse and debate works that reflect the cultural and historical changes as the world moves from the Victorian age to modernity, including 'The Awakening' (1899) by Kate Chopin, 'Three Sisters' (1901) by Anton Chekhov and poetry by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.
    Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00
  9. From the Land of the Rising Sun: an introduction to Japanese Literature
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 3 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Woody River
    Explore the strange and beautiful world of Japanese literature from the 17th century to the present. Follow the footsteps of a medieval travelling poet, delve into the Tokyo pleasure district, view Hiroshima through the eyes of survivors after the atomic bombing, and interpret dreams to illuminate Japanese history and culture. Using art, photography, history and film, you will explore poems, journals, short stories and novels by ten of Japan’s most important writers.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
    Rating:
    95% of 100
  10. Argonautica: reading group (in translation)
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 8 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Nikoletta Manioti
    A reading group focusing on the Argonautica by the Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes (in English translation).



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00
  11. Masters of cinema: Wes Anderson
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 17 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Graham Rinaldi
    “I have a way of filming things and staging them and designing sets. There were times when I thought I should change my approach but in fact, this is what I like to do. It’s sort of like my handwriting as a movie director.” Explore the signature style and adventurous cinema of Wes Anderson from coming of age films through stop motion animation to comedy dramas.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £49.00 Concession £32.00
  12. Friday lates: the Bauhaus in London
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 18 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julie Barlow
    The Staatliches Bauhaus opened its doors in Weimar, Germany in 1919. Fourteen years later it was shut down by the Nazis. Celebrate 100 years of Modernism in architecture and design and discover how Bauhaus style spread to London.



    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 £19.00 Concession £12.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  13. Friday lates: magical modernism: modern art and the occult
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 25 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Christopher Collier
    Discover Modern Art’s secret history: a mysterious melting-pot of mystic auras, magical colour theories, trances, alchemy and the spirit-physics of the 4th-dimension, hiding beneath the familiar stories of science, reason and industry.



    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 £19.00 Concession £12.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  14. Cinema before 1930
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 30 Oct 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jon Wisbey
    Explore cinema's development from its earliest days to the arrival of sound, and view and discuss films such as A Trip to the Moon (1902), Sherlock Jr. (1924) and Sunrise (1927) and many others. We will also consider the contributions of key filmmakers, including the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès, D W Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Sergei Eisenstein, F W Murnau and Alfred Hitchcock.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
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