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. The Odyssey reading group (in translation)
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 11 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Justin Murray
    Homer’s epic tale of Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan War may now be over 2,500 years old but it still has much to tell us about the Ancient Greek world that is still relevant today. Explore this great work in translation.



    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
    Rating:
    84% of 100
  2. Oral Storytelling and Historical Narratives
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 17 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Maame Blue
    Using Afro-Caribbean oral storytelling techniques, Black British history and contemporary literature, develop your creative writing and narrative storytelling abilities with this 6-week online course.



    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 £119.00 Concession £66.00
  3. Autobiographical writing: intensive
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 22 Jul 2024 (and 3 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Paul Laffan
    This shorter version of our introductory autobiographical writing course covers the basic elements of the genre, drawing on memories, diaries, photos, dreams and fantasies with a focus on the forms of autobiography, memoir and the personal essay.



    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
  4. Screenwriting for feature film
    Course start date:  Tue 23 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Sharmila Chauhan
    Have you ever wondered what goes into writing a screenplay? How is it different from theatre, radio or prose? Learn the basics of the craft and develop a script of your own in this creative and analytical workshop.



    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:
    80% of 100
  5. Art history and cinema
    Course start date:  Tue 17 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Gillian McIver
    Since cinema's earliest days, literature has provided movies with stories. But there is another way of looking at film: through its relationship with painting, the oldest of the art forms.



    We’ll look at paintings by Friedrich, Titian, Hopper, Bacon, Delaroche and many more. We’ll view Red Desert, Pan’s Labyrinth, Easy Rider – looking at realism, surrealism and more.



    As you can see, all of these are quite different! Let’s see how movies connect us to art history.



    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
  6. Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  7. Exploring British cinema
    Evening
    Course start date:  Wed 18 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jon Wisbey
    Defining itself around themes such as realism, class and national identity, British cinema continues to find critical and popular acclaim, both domestically and internationally. This course explores British cinema, past and present, through a range of critical concepts and approaches, films - including both popular and art house - and filmmakers, and considers its function as a national cinema.



    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. Cult TV: the Avengers and the swinging 60s
    Course start date:  Wed 18 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Paul Sutton
    An ‘offbeat, tongue-in-cheek, British, “pop spy” fantasy TV series’, The Avengers has variously been described as ‘one of British TV’s greatest successes’, the ‘highest pinnacle of spy/secret agent television’, ‘constantly kinky’, and ‘part of “swinging London”, along with the King’s Road, Carnaby Street, Twiggy, George Best, Mary Quant and other such icons’. Join us for a course that celebrates this quirky, cult TV serial as we revisit iconic episodes and explore what made The Avengers such an enduring slice of British popular culture.
    Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £95.00 Concession £77.00
  9. How should we reason? An introduction to logic
    Course start date:  Thu 19 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Oliver Josiah
    Philosophical Logic is the study of the rules of correct reasoning. This course will introduce you to some widely accepted rules of correct reasoning and teach you how to describe these rules with mathematical precision.



    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
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  10. City Lit evening reading group
    Evening
    Course start date:  Mon 23 Sep 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Claire Allen
    Share thoughts and ideas about what you are reading, with books chosen by the group. Please come to the first session with suggestions (contemporary literary fiction in paperback) and having read The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Monthly meetings on 23 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov; 13 Jan, 17 Feb, 17 March, 12 May, 9 June, and 7 July.



    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
  11. Poetry workshop: intensive
    Course start date:  Tue 24 Sep 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Julie Irigaray
    Want to have your poems critiqued in a supportive environment? This intensive poetry workshop focuses on offering feedback to poets who have already written a selection of poems and are looking to push their writing further.



    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 £75.00
  12. Modern Chinese cinemas: from Wong Kar-wai to Hou Hsiao-hsien
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 27 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Jean-Baptiste de Vaulx
    This course examines a range of filmmakers and movements within the various threads making up Chinese cinemas: from Mainland China (directors such as Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke), Hong Kong (Wong Kar-wai and Ann Hui), Taiwan (Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien), Malaysia, and Singapore. Historical context and critical perspectives will also be covered to shed light on Chinese cinemas.



    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
  13. Reading for writers: the short story (a fortnightly course)
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 29 Sep 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 £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
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