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 >
- Comedy writing and performingCourse start date: Tue 6 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Alan NixonExplore your comedy writing and performance potential under the guidance of an Emmy-award winning comedy producer/director. Alan Nixon shares the skills behind creating powerful comedy using classic and modern techniques.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £139.00 - Teatime Talks: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, imagined portraitsCourse start date: Tue 14 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Chantal CondronOne of the most absorbing contemporary artists working in the UK today, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye paints startling ‘portraits’ of characters entirely derived from her imagination. Discover aspects of her artistic process and the ideas and themes behind her paintings on this course.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Develop your confidence in writing: grammar, punctuation, expression (level 1-2)Course start date: Fri 2 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Would you like to be more confident in the way you write whether emails or reports at work or messages to friends? Do you want to work on how you form sentences, understand grammar and use punctuation so your writing is more creative? Do you want to learn how to create meaning in your writing?. This course will help you be more secure in your professional, academic or creative writing skills and help you improve some of your weak areas around forming and punctuating sentences with appropriate grammatical form. You will develop your confidence in the most essential areas of writing including different sentence structures, writing paragraphs, using punctuation effectively, using active and passive voices and proofreading.
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 £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £90.00 - French 3 lower: conversationCourse start date: Wed 15 Oct 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michel WillameCome and practise your intermediate spoken French and develop your language skills in these topical discussion classes. Based on recordings from French television, radio news and newspaper articles.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £103.00 - Art and War: Art at the Imperial War MuseumCourse start date: Wed 15 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Julie BarlowThe IWM opened in 1920 and moved to its current London site in 1936, with the intention of recording military action in which the United Kingdom was and has been involved since WW1. The museum has an exciting new thematic display of its extensive art collection. Explore how artists respond to conflict both in the past and today.
Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Deaf history part 1Course start date: Thu 16 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Peter BrownFind out about the history of Deaf people in Britain and the development of BSL. This fascinating course is taught in BSL. Hearing people with a minimum of level 2 BSL are welcome.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £104.00 - Seeing inside paintingsCourse start date: Thu 16 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caroline RaeDiscover the secrets of the Old Masters and learn how they created their wonderful effects in this introductory course on painters and painting. We will consider the physical history and scientific examination of artworks in relation to aspects including forgeries, hidden paintings and conservation/ restoration.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Italian intermediate book clubCourse start date: Fri 17 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Silvana VistolaThis course is for intermediate and lower intermediate learners of Italian (Italian 2 Upper and Italian 3 lower, or learners in their third or fourth year of studying Italian) who would like to improve their reading skills and learn new grammar and vocabulary through reading and discussing works of Italian fiction and/or non-fiction. The texts chosen may be in the form of easy readers to facilitate understanding. The chosen texts will be written in Italian, and discussions will be in Italian, though some English may be permitted, so learners will be able to stretch themselves and feel more confident about expressing their opinion and asking questions in class.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £90.00 - Italian 2 lower conversationCourse start date: Fri 9 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Rosanna CarlàThis skills-based course is for lower intermediate learners of Italian and is intended to improve your Italian speaking skills in everyday situations. We will be looking at both formal and informal scenarios, and the aim is to help you to feel more comfortable speaking Italian in order to improve your fluency. Please note this course is intended for Italian 2 lower learners (learners in their second year of study).Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Debt in the global political economyCourse start date: Tue 21 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Caglar EzikogluExplore the intricacies of debt within the global political economy, examining its impacts, mechanisms, and socio-economic consequences.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00 - Looking beyond headlines: colonialism and contemporary conflictsCourse start date: Wed 22 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Salome IetterThis course will provide a reflection on the colonial, post-colonial and neo-colonial aspects and underpinnings of contemporary conflicts.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Lunchtime lecture: Cezanne – from aspiring Impressionist to Post-Impressionist revolutionaryCourse start date: Thu 23 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Julia MusgraveExplore the development of Cezanne revolutionary approach to painting, his techniques and motifs and some of the many artists whose work he influenced.Full fee £14.00 Senior fee £11.00 Concession £9.00 - Friday lates: psychogeography: the art of getting lostCourse start date: Fri 16 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierFrom pub crawls to punk rock, via comic books, action painting and Hegelian philosophy; hear the unlikely tale of the Situationists: international artist-revolutionaries who tried to change the world itself into a work of art.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £12.00 - Level 3 Certificate in Software Development, Gateway QualificationsCourse start date: Tue 28 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Sathish Boini, Kathryn ColdhamThis Level 3 accredited course is designed for learners wishing to develop and extend their digital and IT skills to prepare for different roles in the digital and creative industries within Software Development.
The Free Courses for Jobs initiative is for Londoners aged 24 or over at the start of the course who are: on a low-income; or on certain benefits; or do not have a full level 3 qualification. For more information Click here
The course fee is £2699.00. 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 £1645.00. The remaining fee of £1054.00 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 Business & Technology on 020 7492 2515. You can find more information about the Advanced Learner Loan here www.citylit.ac.uk/advanced-learner-loansFull fee £2,699.00 Senior fee £2,699.00 Concession £2,699.00 - The Spanish Empire: Power, Conquest, and LegacyCourse start date: Tue 28 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Maisa EdwardsJoin Dr. Maisa Edwards to explore the rise, global reach and fall of the Spanish Empire from the 1400s to the 1800s.
Full fee £119.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £77.00
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