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 >
See what it's like be part a City Lit online creative writing course.
- Advanced fiction writing workshop
Course start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025 (and 8 other dates)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Claire CollisonFor experienced writers, this supportive but rigorous workshop offers the perfect opportunity to develop your novel or short story. Receive in-depth feedback and benefit from detailed group discussions on the art of fiction.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £130.00 - Developing your novel Course start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sarah LeipcigerHave you started work on your novel? This course is suitable for experienced creative writers who want to make progress with a novel draft. Learn more about the art of novel writing and move your project forward in a supportive workshop environment.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £130.00 - Craft focus: grammar, syntax, and style for creative writers Course start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (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.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £90.00 - Writing for magazines Course start date: Tue 13 May 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Phyllis RichardsonGet inspired to write on this practical course for freelance journalists and bloggers. Learn to carry out research, interview people, pitch and publish stories, and build your presence on social media.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £75.00 - Tolkien on ScreenCourse start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
In his literary essay On Fairy Stories, J.R.R. Tolkien famously wrote that “in human art, fantasy is a thing best left to words”. Despite this claim, The Lord of the Rings is arguably one of the most profitable media franchises of the 21st century. It has inspired academy-award winning films and record-breaking TV series, and continues to generate material that resonates with new generations of fans to explore. This course will explore the history of adapting Tolkien to the cinema, considering not only what was altered or left behind in attempts to turn Tolkien’s vast mythology into the stuff of popular cinema, but what might also have been enhanced as a result.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Lipreading and managing hearing loss: advancedCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Adam GurneyDevelop your lipreading skills and strategies for face-to-face communication and keep up-to-date with relevant equipment and services. This course is suitable if you have completed a lipreading class at improvers' level.
This course will be taught in spoken English and not in sign language.Full fee £399.00 Senior fee £399.00 Concession £200.00 - Advanced playwriting Course start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Brian MullinDive deeper into the key elements of writing for the theatre, gain fresh critical insight into your own writing, and produce a new draft of your work. This online course is designed for experienced playwrights who have work in-progress.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £130.00 - Music theory: counterpoint 1Course start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Selena KayExplore the art of counterpoint, a musical technique in which two or more melodies are combined to create a highly
engaging musical texture. Over the year you will learn contrapuntal technique from Renaissance to Twentieth Century styles, through score analysis and practical exercises. The course is split into three terms, focusing on Renaissance style in term 1. Break week: 28 Oct 2025. - Lunchtime lecture: Understanding AbstractionCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah JaffrayLearn the common reasons for abstraction in art, across time and culture. From the Byzantine icon to the Igbo figurine, from Young Sook Park to Mark Rothko, we’ll think about how abstraction is more common in the history of art than is typically thought. Explore ways into thinking about and experiencing abstract art.Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - French DALF C1Course start date: Tue 17 Sep 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Pierre PorcheronCe cours de niveau avancé vous prépare pour les examens en juin 2025 au 'Diplôme approfondi en langue française' (DALF), niveau C1. Vous pouvez arranger un interview. Pour cela, contacter languages : languages@citylit.ac.uk
Les frais d'examens ne sont pas inclus dans le prix. Possibilité de paiement en plusieurs versements.
Voici les dates des trimestres:
Term 1: 17/09/2024-03/12/2024
Term 2: 14/01/2025-08/04/2025
Term 3: 29/04/2025- 10/06/2025.Full fee £869.00 Senior fee £869.00 Concession £565.00 - Beyond the headlines: Left populism and socialism todayCourse start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Salome IetterThis course will provide an overview of the politics of ‘Left populism’ in their historical perspective and contemporary manifestations as well as in their relation to socialist politics.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Spanish DELE B2 tasterCourse start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Are you looking into taking an Exam course in Spanish but want to try it before you commit?
Get a taste of what it would be like to prepare for the 'Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera B2'. The course will explain how the actual Preparation to the DELE B2 will work and will offer snippets of activities that will be carried out during the course.
Please note that you should have studied Spanish for about five years or have an equivalent level.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Lieder: music and poetryCourse 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. - Exploring British cinemaCourse start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Jon WisbeyDefining itself around themes such as realism, class and national identity, and differentiating itself from Hollywood and other national cinemas, British cinema has found critical and popular acclaim both domestically and internationally. This course explores key themes and developments in British cinema, past and present, through a range of films, filmmakers and critical concepts and responses.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00 - Develop your writing and language skills (level 1-level 2) Course start date: Thu 8 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Have you been learning English for a long time but your writing just doesn’t seem to be improving? Are you quite a fluent speaker but find formal speaking difficult? Do you feel ‘stuck’. This course will release you! You will focus on how to improve the structure of your writing both the whole text, paragraphs and sentences. You will work on understanding the grammar of the language, and the skills you learn to develop your writing will help you improve your more formal speaking whether this is for job interviews, meetings at work or giving presentations. This course is ideal if you have been living in the UK for several years, feel quite comfortable in speaking English as a second language, but lack confidence in your literacy skills.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if you are employed and on a low wage or you are claiming benefits. For more information Click here
Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £65.00
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