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.
- Screenwriting for feature film
Course start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sharmila ChauhanHave 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. - Great works: Beethoven's Symphony No 9 "Choral" Course start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy Hamilton, Trish ShawBeethoven’s monumental ninth symphony, first performed in 1824, has had an enormous impact on western classical music and on wider European culture. How did Beethoven come to write this work, and what does this symphony still mean to us two centuries after its first performance?Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Drawing in colour: summer school intensive Course start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kim ScoullerExplore a variety of techniques and approaches to making a still-life in pastels. Learn how to mix pastels on paper, choose suitable materials and supports to allow you to create a finished pastel drawing.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Great composers: Gilbert and SullivanCourse start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HomdenCreators of arguably the most popular and enduring opera in the English language from the 19th century, this course will introduce you to Gilbert & Sullivan’s musical legacy via biographical study and operatic highlights. tutor: Katy HomdenFull fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - How to write a memoir Course start date: Wed 6 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julie GartonDo you have a personal story to tell that will move, delight, stir and inform readers? This short course guides students in planning and crafting a memoir. - Micropoetry: small poems, big ideas Course start date: Fri 8 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansExplore the emerging art form of micropoetry in this fun but informative day workshop. Compose your own poetry and learn how to make every word on the page count. - Try it out: bookbinding Course start date: Sat 9 Aug 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate RochesterDip your fingers into bookbinding. Learn a little about the materials and craft of bookbinding while making an attractive book to take home. A chance to discuss further study in bookbinding at City Lit.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Craft focus: scenes and setting in fiction Course start date: Sat 9 Aug 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Thomas McMullanScenes in fiction are like those in film: we experience action as it unfolds. Action has to take place somewhere, which is why setting is also key. In this practical intensive course, you'll learn how to create scenes and establish setting that engages and convinces readers.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing haiku poetry Course start date: Sat 9 Aug 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pearl MayLearn how to write haikus that resonate, move and entertain on this fun day workshop.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Contemporary dance intensiveCourse start date: Sat 16 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francis AngolThis is a three-evening intensive in contemporary dance fusion. Learn how to express your physicality in a dynamic fashion and gain basic knowledge of the main principles of contemporary dance, with influences from other techniques. General level - suitable for both beginners and improvers. - Jump start your play Course start date: Sat 16 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Brian MullinHave you got a script idea but not yet put pen to paper, or a script you started but never finished? This intensive short course will help you inject new energy into your idea – and get started writing. Only suitable for those with playwriting experience. - English entry 3 for deaf people - part 1Course start date: Mon 8 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This course will help you get become confident in your everyday communication including reading and writing. We will focus on topics that interest you and use these to help you improve the key elements of reading and writing as well as communication skills to enable you to express your thoughts and feelings including in difficult situations. You will learn to how write whole sentences and paragraphs, use adjectives effectively, organise your writing, make notes and complete drafts, spell important common words, use punctuation correctly and develop reading and writing strategies most suited to you. And you will learn some digital skills including reading and finding information from websites.
This course is free for learners who have not achieved a GCSE grade C (4) and higher in English. For more information Click here
Full fee £0.00 - Spanish 5 tasterCourse start date: Mon 8 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Diego IudicissaCome and discover what an advanced Spanish class feels like.
This course is suitable if you have studied Spanish for about 5-6 years recently.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Basketry: weaving in willow Course start date: Mon 8 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christiane GunziExplore basic willow basketry structures and weaves. This course will guide beginners through a simple project to make a small, round, functional basket. - Level 4 Diploma in therapeutic counselling: integrative pathwayCourse start date: Mon 8 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Kean Street Wellbeing Centre
Tutors: Ana WellbrookThe Application Process for this course is now closed.
You will need to have completed a level 3 certificate in counselling skills course (minimum 145 tuition hours) within the last three years to be eligible to apply. This two-year course awarded by Skills Education Group Awards (SEG) qualifies you to practise as a counsellor.
The course fee is £5099.00. If you are unable to pay the course fee upfront, you can choose to apply for an Advanced Learning Loan from the Student Loans Company (SLC) to help cover the cost. The Advanced Learner loan available for this course is £2225.00. The remaining fee of £2874.00 will need to be paid at enrolment. If you are unable to pay this fee upfront, you can talk to our Information, Advice and Guidance team who will advise you on other financial support available. You can contact the Advice and Guidance Team by phone on (0203 871 3111) or by email: advice@citylit.ac.uk. The Loan is repayable after the course ends. For more information, please call Psychology, Counselling & Personal Development on 020 4582 0403. You can find more information about the Advanced Learner Loan here www.citylit.ac.uk/advanced-learner-loansFull fee £5,099.00 Senior fee £5,099.00 Concession £5,099.00
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