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.
- Performance poetry: getting startedCourse start date: Sat 14 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Megan BeechWrite poetry and perform it, finding your own style and delivery under the guidance of a spoken word artist. Explore the differences between performance and other forms of poetry.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Craft focus: voice and dialogue in fiction
Course start date: Sun 15 Feb 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosie ChardAll fiction must speak to us as readers. It must communicate atmosphere and plot, character and layers of meaning with a unique 'voice'. Characters must also sound like themselves with dialogue that compels and convinces. Learn the fundamentals of voice and dialogue in this one-day course.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Pottery on SaturdaysCourse start date: Sat 21 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lauren IlsleyLearn lots of different ways of making pottery, from handbuilding to throwing. Look at a variety of different ways to decorate your work. All levels welcome.Full fee £599.00 Senior fee £479.00 Concession £389.00 - Studio assistant photography studioCourse start date: Sat 21 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lorenzo Berni, Ed GregoryThis is a course for students looking to take their first steps into commercial photography. This is a practical workshop-based course that will enable you to work with photographic studio equipment and software appropriate to a commercial photography workflow.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at selfCourse start date: Mon 23 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony Hull, Monika KitaWe all have a unique way of looking at the world, shaping what we see to fit our reality. Explore how painting and drawing can magnify unconscious distortions and how memory and the imagination come to embody ‘the Self’ in image-making.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Florence Price: an introduction to her musicCourse start date: Tue 24 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonFlorence Price is one of the most important African-American composers of the early twentieth century. Come and explore the extraordinary life and musical legacy of this brilliant musician whose works are only just being ‘rediscovered’, 70 years after her death.
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Visible stitches, spectacular spines: experiments in exposed sewingCourse start date: Fri 27 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alessia TumbioloExplore the creative possibilities of visible sewing in bookbinding through structure and materials. Experiment with wrapping, folding and piercing to produce a set of books where the spine is the star!Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - Create your first short story collection Course start date: Sat 28 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alice AshYou've workshopped your fiction, and now you're ready to create your first short story collection. But where do you begin with that process? This day offers instruction and advice on putting together your first short story collection.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Oil painting: focus on portraitureCourse start date: Sun 1 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Brian SayersLearn to draw and paint portraits using traditional methods of observation, composition and mark making. Working from a variety of professional portrait models you will start with pencil and charcoal and progress on to oil painting.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Writing poetry from visual artCourse start date: Sun 1 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lawrence BradbyArt has inspired some of the world’s greatest poetry. This course will show you how to draw from visual art when writing your own poems.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Creative writing for social mediaCourse start date: Sun 1 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
In this course we will scroll through short-form creative writing approaches, and bring together words, images, found sounds, mixed-media, cut-up and other techniques to publish writing on social media. This course is open to both new and experienced writers.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Teatime Talks: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, imagined portraits Course start date: Tue 3 Mar 2026
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 - Illustrating narrativesCourse start date: Thu 5 Mar 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ciara FloodOn this course you will explore practical methods of storyboarding and the ability to take a narrative and translate it into a sequence of images. This skill is essential for children’s book illustrators, graphic novelists, animators and film makers.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - City Lit Pro: Adobe After Effects fast trackCourse start date: Fri 6 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Litza JanszCity Lit Pro courses are tailored for accelerated learning for busy people who need to learn key skills for the workplace. On this Adobe After Effects course, you will learn the essential tools and skills for using After Effects to transform your video projects. These include planning the project, organising and preparing the material, masking skills, key framing skills and working with layers.Full fee £459.00 Senior fee £367.00 Concession £298.00 - Bookbinding: leather paring and knife sharpeningCourse start date: Sat 7 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Royston HawardParing and sharpening are skills essential for advanced bookbinding. Learn the first principles of these specialised skills in a simple to understand way that builds confidence.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00
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