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.
- Train the TrainerCourse start date: Sat 25 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Trevor England'Train the Trainer' is a practical 2 day course designed to help you gain ideas for effective facilitation and managing groups. It is suitable if you are thinking of becoming a trainer and want to gain confidence in planning and facilitating the training, or if you are an experienced trainer and want to refresh your practice. You will leave with some tools and techniques that will ensure your training is engaging and productive for your learners. On day 2 you will have the opportunity to deliver a short micro-training or interactive presentation. You are required to attend both days of this course.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £129.00 - Writing music journalism
Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Liam KonemannLearn how to write journalistically about music, from reviews to interviews, in this intensive one-day course.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Introduction to Islam: historical emergence, current issuesCourse start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Farid PanjwaniThe course is about exploring Muslim history: What is Islam? Who is a Muslim? This course explores these questions through a study of the Quran, the Prophet and the socio-political and religious developments in the early history of Muslims. You may discover that there is more than meets the eye. - Textiles sketchbook course Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ruth BrisonDevelop a creative and experimental sketchbook. Explore the surface qualities of drawing and mark-making with the layered possibilities of mixed-media and hand stitch. You'll have the chance to generate visual research and ideas towards a personal project.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Self defence and personal safety for women Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Carla DraytonExplore physical and non-physical techniques for self defence, developing your assertiveness, body language and more. Women of any age or fitness level are welcome to come and enhance their confidence.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Understanding race, gender and class in educationCourse start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Join Jamila Thompson to learn more about how race, gender and class informs education in Britain.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Developing your fairytale Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Nicole AcquahAlready devised a cunning plan for your own fairytale? This fun workshop coaches students on how to add an extra dash of magic into the cauldron while writing in the fairytale genre. - Artefacts with Biblical references at the British Museum: an introductionCourse start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ann JeffersIncludes a visit to the British Museum. Discover objects related to the Bible and the questions they evoke about the world in which the ancient Israelites lived and wrote their stories. Spend the afternoon having a close look at the British Museum collection.
Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Hitchcock in the 50s: A golden run Course start date: Sat 31 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John WischmeyerAlfred Hitchcock (b.1899) is responsible for some of the most influential films in cinema history. He directed over 50 feature films throughout his career (11 in the 1950s) as well as hosting and directing the TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-61). He peaked in the fifties, when he hit his own fifties. Instead of a mid-life crisis he had his most productive period ever and received the official title of the "Master of Suspense”. Just before this he had hit the buffers from 1947 to 1951 with one failure after another but turned things around when he went to Warner Brothers for Strangers on a Train (1951) and then, fortuitously, to Paramount for a golden run of hits from Rear Window (1954) to Psycho (1960). The French declared him an auteur—an artist. The fifties are his late, mature period and these are his most personal and revealing films. Vertigo (1958) was his autobiography.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Introduction to carving in wood or stone Course start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
. - Japanese woodcut printmaking Course start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Carol Justin WilhideAn introduction to the beautiful and delicate printmaking world of Japanese Woodcut. Explore this water based, non-toxic process and build an appreciation for the handmade. You will learn how to design, carve and make a multi-coloured print. Beginners welcome.Full fee £319.00 Senior fee £255.00 Concession £207.00 - Mews, monuments and museumsCourse start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Marilyn GreeneThis circular walk explores the alleys lanes, squares and delightful mews houses and passes a disused tube station in the mainly in the Knightsbridge conservation area and contrasts with the grand museums, institutions and monuments built in South Kensington (Albertopolis) developed with profits of the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in 1851. Meets outside the main entrance to the V&A ends outside the Natural History Museum. Meets outside the main entrance to the V&A ends outside the Natural History Museum.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £19.00 - Mask technique and the physical body (level 1)Course start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sean CroftThis playful and creative mask course, suitable for students at any level, introduces you to the mask. You will be carefully guided to explore the principals and techniques required to bring a character to life, to create speech with the body and without the voice. Masks will be provided but why not bring along some different style outfits and a variety of hats with you, then you’ll have more to play with on the day.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £48.00 - The art of writing the personal essay Course start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Yvonne SinghFollow in the footsteps of Dorothy Parker, George Orwell and Zadie Smith with this taster course on the personal essay, a continuously thriving genre of autobiographical writing.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Fixity and Flux: poetry in motionCourse start date: Mon 2 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansCome and revel in the sheer variety and possibility of poetic form, as we consider how form might shape what a writer has to say and how they say it. This course will allow you to explore the many shapes that a poem can take.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £84.00
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