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 >
- Introduction to using a SketchbookCourse start date: Fri 10 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
A sketchbook is a great place to try things out, make mistakes and take risks - all in the nature of experimentation. An introduction to exploring creative mixed-media, drawing and mark-making techniques with confidence which can build personal ideas for further development.
Suitable for beginners as well as those with some previous drawing experience who would like to start using a sketchbook.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Mixed media and digital printmakingCourse start date: Sat 11 Oct 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rolina Elsje BlokThis course introduces you to new ways of combining printmaking with creative thinking by using multiple printmaking techniques and processes, layering them to produce compositions that can be made into artworks to take away with you.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Art and creative thinking with Rod JudkinsCourse start date: Sun 12 Oct 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rod JudkinsArt is fundamentally about communicating ideas. If the idea is strong, the work of art is memorable.
This exciting, one day workshop, led by Rod Judkins (artist, tutor and author of ‘The art of Creative thinking’ and ‘Ideas are your only currency’) will explore methods to create ideas and concepts and combine them with the process of making. You will receive a signed copy of Art and Creative Thinking when you attend this course.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Using your voice for audio books and talking newspapersCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David ThorpeWould you like to narrate audio books? Are you interested in community work such as talking newspapers for the blind? Explore vocal skills and techniques required in these areas and identify what style works for you. This course will be delivered in the college.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £104.00 - Introduction to contemporary art: ideas and originsCourse start date: Mon 13 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christopher CollierEver wondered what's going on in the mind of contemporary artists? This course explores the ideas and historical background behind some of today’s most intriguing works, from Conceptualism and Video to Body Art and Installation.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Working with adults who stammer: a course for speech and language therapistsCourse start date: Mon 13 Oct 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Carolyn Cheasman, Vivien Grant-JonesDesigned for speech and language therapists, this four-day interactive workshop will cover assessment and selection, stammering modification, interiorised stammering, cluttering, acquired stammering and an introduction to mindfulness. Opportunity to practise teaching techniques to clients included.
Note: this course runs on these days: October 13-15; and a final follow-up day on March 30..Full fee £599.00 Senior fee £599.00 Concession £599.00 - Making it Modern: A Survey of 20th century poetryCourse start date: Mon 13 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Suzannah V. EvansWhat makes a poet modern? What is the different between modern poetry and modernist poetry? How has modern poetry informed the work of poets writing today? Come and explore the exciting range of poetry written in the twentieth century in a supportive and energising group context.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £142.00 - 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 - Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00
- 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 - Introduction to beaded jewelleryCourse start date: Fri 17 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Beverley SellFancy trying your hand at beaded jewellery making? Learn how to work with beads, wire, thread and findings to create beautiful beaded necklaces, bracelets, earrings and tiara designs. Join our introductory course for all levels to discover where to find the best beads, how to knot with thread, manipulate and twist wire and learn how to finish your work using clasps.
- History, memory and mental wealth: why we need to talk about empireCourse start date: Fri 17 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Martin JorgensenFormally, European imperialism ended decades ago. Yet, the different legacies still affect the world and many societies today. Join us for a discussion on why we need to talk about empire and mental wealth.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Some like it Indie: How the Independents Revoultionised Postwar HollywoodCourse start date: Fri 17 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
What do The Apartment, The Great Escape, West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, The Pink Panther, The Magnificent Seven, Fiddler on the Roof and Some Like it Hot have in common? They were all produced by one small production company, run by three brothers, as the studio system was replaced by the new independent producers. Most Hollywood history fetishizes the 1970s as the decade in which the movies finally came of age. But this course looks back to the late ‘50s and ‘60s and zooms in on a single independent production company, the Mirisch Company, to understand the seismic shift that transformed Hollywood – not only in how films were produced but also in terms of the subjects and styles of the films themselves.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Physics unravelled: navigating the maze of string theoryCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gary RetallickWith its promise of answering questions about black holes, gravity and dark matter/energy, string theory has captivated many physicists for the past 50 years. In this course, we will look at string theory in a non-technical way and consider what the prospects are for this remarkable theory.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Reasoning and God: an introduction to theologyCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edgar Ter-DanielyanThis course is an introduction to theology – reasoned discourse on the Christian understanding of God, his nature, and his relationship with human beings and the created order.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00
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