Writing Courses & Workshops Online & in London
Be inspired to write, and learn how to get published at the college where Andrea Levy, Malorie Blackman, Anna Burns, and other celebrated authors studied. Read our success stories to see what's possible for you as a writer.
Learn from published authors
Whether you're just starting out or ready to publish your first book, the benefits of our writing courses include expert tuition from a published author and feedback on your work as you develop your writing skills. There will also be opportunities to participate in group discussions and activities with fellow students.
Unheard Voices Scholarship
City Lit’s Malorie Blackman Scholarships for 'Unheard Voices' provide three annual awards to fund one year’s study within the Creative Writing department at City Lit. Learn more >
- Lunchtime Lecture: Caravaggio - murderer or geniusCourse start date: Thu 20 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveCaravaggio’s reputation as an artist was for many years tainted by his criminal record, but for his contemporaries he was an influential innovator. We’ll explore his life, the development of his style and the events that tainted his reputation.
Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - Friday Lates: the art of zinesCourse start date: Fri 21 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierUnderground passions and radical imagery have defined so-called fanzines for over 80 years. From the earliest examples to today, we explore their content, technique and the relation of DIY culture to wider artistic practices.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - French 4: Cinéma politiqueCourse start date: Sat 22 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Masa UzelacThis course offers an exploration of French and Francophone political cinema. We will analyse the works of influential directors such as Godard and Varda to gain insights into pivotal historical moments of the development of politically engaged cinema. Join us on an investigative journey where film serves as a lens for understanding the complex dynamics of social and political movements.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00 - Realism and Genre: British Cinema in the 1960sCourse start date: Sat 22 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyDuring the 1960s British cinema re-established itself as a leading producer of films, including realist dramas such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), and action and adventure fantasies with the highly popular James Bond films. This course explores these developments through a range of critical approaches and considers the way in which they contributed to a revitalised British cinema.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Friday lates: Cook must fall! Portraits of Captain James Cook, new and oldCourse start date: Fri 28 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ben PollittExplore the portrayal of Captain James Cook from c. 1770 to the present day. Understand images of Cook provide us with a fascinating platform to think about the complicated relationships that have emerged out of British Empire and what used to be thought of as its imperial possessions.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Letizia Battaglia: Life, love and deathCourse start date: Sat 29 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ottavia CastellinaTo coincide with the Lucrezia Battaglia exhibition currently running at the Photographers' Gallery in London, this seminar will introduce you to the life and work of the noted Italian photographer Lucrezia Battaglia.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Welsh pronunciation workshopCourse start date: Sat 29 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jack Pulman-SlaterUnderstand how to produce the sounds of Welsh with increased accuracy, confidence and intelligibility on this practical and popular online course.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £32.00 - The music of Brazil: from samba through bossa novaCourse start date: Sat 29 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Claudia CerbinoDiscover the rich cultural and geographical diversity which have influenced Brazilian popular music and learn about the wide variety of Brazil's musical styles both past and present.In English with some Portuguese.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - From mythical heroines to the emperor's subjects: epistolography in the Roman EmpireCourse start date: Tue 2 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Nikoletta ManiotiFind out more about epistolography (letter writing) as a literary genre in the Roman world.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Una stagione con Dante: introduzioneCourse start date: Wed 3 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Francesco BucciolThis session - conducted entirely in Italian - is the first part of an introduction to the Divine Comedy. The first session introduces you to Dante's life, his political and philosophical views and gives an overview of the structure of the poem. We will devote the following three sessions (from January onwards) to reading, analysing and commenting on a selection of cantos. Please note that the selection of the cantos read in the following sessions will be different from that of previous years, so you are welcome to re-enrol even if you have attended before.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Interactions between the Mediterranean world and Anglo-Saxon EnglandCourse start date: Fri 5 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Stephen PollingtonThis talk will explore some of the connections which maintained the Anglo-Saxons' feeling that Rome was part of their heritage.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £19.00 - Spanish 3 upper tasterCourse start date: Tue 9 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Come and discover what an intermediate Spanish class feels like.
This course is suitable if you have studied Spanish for about 4/5 years recently.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Adoring the Christ Child in art: images of the very generous MagiCourse start date: Thu 11 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Emma Rose BarberThe images of the Adoration of the Magi will be taken from medieval illuminated manuscripts, as well as panel paintings done for churches and chapels and fresco cycles. Artists covered include Italian artists such as Duccio, Giotto, Botticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Gentile da Fabriano, and northern Renaissance artists including Gossaert and Breughel.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Music history bookclub: The Great PassionCourse start date: Fri 12 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Edward BreenThe music history book club meets towards the end of each term to discuss novels and biographies with musical themes and references relevant to the music history programme.
Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - History of ideas: the invention of ChristmasCourse start date: Sat 13 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Angela PlattBeginning around the middle of the 19th century, a ‘new Christmas’ came into the fore; a reinvented Christmas, if you will. Why did this Christmas shift as it did – to produce the modern celebration many people still enjoy today? In this course, the stories of those groups and individuals who impacted this ‘reinvention of Christmas’ will be shared.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00
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