Writing Courses & Workshops
At City Lit, we offer a supportive and inspiring environment where you can enhance your writing and gain confidence. Our courses are designed to help you find your voice, sharpen your writing skills, and take your work to the next level. Whether you're writing short stories, poetry, or working on a novel, you'll receive expert guidance and feedback from experienced tutors.
Learn from Published Authors
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.
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.
- The 60 minute writer
Course start date: Fri 25 Sep 2026 (and 6 other dates)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lawrence BradbyFit creative writing into your busy day: a relaxed, informal rolling programme for writers of all levels of experience who enjoy being thrown new ideas and experimenting with poetry and prose.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £103.00 - Reading for writers: the short story (a fortnightly course) Course start date: Sun 27 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lucy PopescuThe best way to write good short stories is to read a lot of good ones first. Dive into the best of short fiction, explore point-of-view, character and pacing, and begin to apply the lessons learnt to your own writing in this fortnightly course.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Autobiographical writing Course start date: Mon 28 Sep 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nick BarlayWhether writing for self-discovery, testimony or to tell your story, this term-long course explores how to ensure your autobiographical work is both evocative and powerful.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £181.00 - Ways into poetry Course start date: Mon 28 Sep 2026 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Toby CampionRelatively new to writing poetry? This inspiring course offers an opportunity to experiment with language and a variety of poetic devices alongside fellow emerging poets. Discover the key elements of a poem in a friendly and interactive class.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £269.00 Concession £175.00 - Writing for children Course start date: Tue 29 Sep 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Neil ArkseyAlways wanted to write a children's book? This practical course will enable you to take the first steps in writing for younger readers with a focus on learning how and what to write for different age groups.
Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £181.00 - Poetry workshop: intensive Course start date: Tue 29 Sep 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lawrence BradbyWant to have your poems critiqued in a supportive environment? This intensive poetry workshop focuses on offering feedback to poets who have already written a selection of poems and are looking to push their writing further.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Queer poetics: new approaches to your poems Course start date: Sat 3 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Toby CampionFrom a rich, global history of queer poetry, learn new techniques to challenge your writing practice and create fresh, bold poems.
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Craft focus: character in fiction Course start date: Sat 3 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghIn fiction, character and plot are inseparable elements of craft. Without characters there can be no action or plot. In this short course you will learn how to create characters that can drive a narrative forward and deepen its themes.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Write a short story in a weekend Course start date: Sat 3 Oct 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vicky GrutTurn your great idea into a short story on this fun practical course. Through a series of inspiring exercises, you'll be introduced to some key fiction-writing techniques and encouraged to draft a short story from beginning to end.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £97.00 - Local history writing Course start date: Sat 3 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Allis MossOn this inspiring short course you will learn how to write local history books, booklets and features; covering a wide range of topics such as family, home towns, old buildings, parks, markets and beyond.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Autobiography into poetry Course start date: Sun 4 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sarah WardleLearn how to translate real-life experiences into powerful poems in this stimulating course for those interested in the meeting place between autobiography and poetry.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00 - Writing science fiction Course start date: Tue 6 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: KR MoorheadLearn how to build futuristic worlds and set them to explore thought-provoking concepts in this course on writing science fiction.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Haiku for wellbeingCourse start date: Wed 7 Oct 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghWriting Haiku poems can provide a peaceful distraction from life's challenges by focusing on creative writing. Composing Haiku can produce a feeling of achievement, and help you to get in touch with the natural world and show us our place within it. This workshop is part of the 2025 Mental Wealth Festival hosted by City Lit and partners.
Full fee £10.00 Senior fee £5.00 Concession £5.00 - Writing about food Course start date: Wed 7 Oct 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Laura SilvermanLove food and want to write about it? Whether you’re keen to review dishes, interview chefs or write about sustainable eating, now is your chance. This course will cover writing for established publications as well as personal blogs.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £149.00 - Autobiography into fiction: getting started Course start date: Sat 10 Oct 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nick BarlayLearn how to turn real-life experiences into gripping fiction in this fun short course for fiction-writing beginners and experienced writers. Develop your writing skills and explore techniques for transforming personal stories into strong narratives.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £51.00
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