- Contemporary British and international fiction
Course start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Aamer HusseinWe will be looking at novels from recent years that explore various dimensions of culture and society, reading and discussing a brief and careful selection of novels in English from several countries, diverse in style and genre. Titles include Piranesi, Susanna Clarke's mysterious and 'weird' tale of secrets and lost texts, William Boyd's Trio, which follows the life of an actress, a film producer, and a writer obsessed with the suicide of Virginia Woolf, Small Things Like These by Clare Keegan, in which a coal merchant becomes involved with the fate of a pregnant teenager trapped in a Magdalene Laundry, and Michelle de Kretser's Theory and Practice follows the academic trajectory of a Sri Lankan feminist researching the novels of Woolf.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Lieder: music and poetry Course start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katy HamiltonFrom the late-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, the German Lied developed and blossomed as a musical genre for amateurs, professionals, homes and concert halls. We trace its history through some of its most important composers.
This course has a scheduled break week on 29 Oct 2025. - Mozart's Vienna Course start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneMozart’s music has come to stand for the greatest and most beautiful aspects of the Western classical tradition. But who was he? And what exactly did he do? Come and discover more about this famous Vienese composer. break week 29 Oct 2025.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Wild Nights: poetry and desire Course start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Laurie SmithSome friendships, including with people of the same sex, may become so intense as to be love, though not necessarily of a sexual kind. We will look at some great poets who have had this experience and expressed it brilliantly in their work: Shakespeare and Byron, Tennyson and Emily Dickinson, Arthur Rimbaud and Thomas Hardy, C P Cavafy and the great 20th century Russian poet Some Marina Tsvetaeva, and finally our recent Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - National Gallery Course start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Leslie PrimoDiscuss a differently themed group of paintings each week in front of the pictures. An opportunity to understand our national collection in greater depth.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Japanese woodcut printmaking Course start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Carol Justin WilhideAn introduction to the beautiful and delicate printmaking world of Japanese Woodcut. Explore this water based, non-toxic process and build an appreciation for the handmade. You will learn how to design, carve and make a multi-coloured print. Beginners welcome.Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00 - An introduction to art history Course start date: Wed 8 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Thomas BalfeArt history is much more than decoding secrets and symbols. It is about critical thinking and empathy, understanding how an artwork reflects an artist’s interpretation of their world, and what it says to you about our world now. This course is designed to build your confidence in understanding visual art of the Western tradition. It is designed for both the absolute beginner and those with some existing art historical knowledge.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £168.00 - Symphonies in productionCourse start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneStudy symphonies coming up in the 2026–27 season, we will discuss their composition, context and style, and then hear a selection of musical examples.
NB Break week: 30 May 2027.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Beethoven's ViennaCourse start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katy HamiltonLudwig van Beethoven’s music has come to stand for the greatest and best-known aspects of the Western classical tradition. But who was he? And what exactly did he do? Come and discover more about this most famous Viennese composer.
Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - The art of collecting art: questions of tasteCourse start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowHow our public collections evolve and expand and how they present and represent their collections is fascinating and provides a window into the worlds of private collecting, ideas about taste and how cultural and societal forces affect these ideas. Visiting different galleries and art venues each week this course explores the roles played by patrons, art dealers, curators and art critics across time in shaping our ideas about art.
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Modern Italian FictionsCourse start date: Wed 21 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Aamer HusseinWe explore a careful selection of novels, in a variety of genres, that display the skill and virtuosity of renowned mid-20th century Italian writers, including Natalia Ginzburg, Italo Calvino, and Giuseppe di Lampedusa. These works have withstood the test of time and are recognised as modern classics.
Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00
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