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.
- Writing myths
Course start date: Sat 2 May 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Maria ContosWhether you want to write about mythical beasts in a modern-day setting or pen a traditional epic, this fun, interactive taster will equip you with the craft basics to write a myth that will move and inspire.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing and rewriting fairytales Course start date: Sun 3 May 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Harper WaltonOnce upon a time there was a City Lit workshop all about writing fairytales. The quest: to inspire writers to pen stories of love, fear, forests, revenge, dragons, witches, kings, queens, frogs and magic.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Developing your creative writing Course start date: Tue 5 May 2026 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Harper WaltonThis supportive intermediate course for writers with some experience will provide inspiration, technical guidance and feedback on your work, as well as helping you to sustain your writing practice. You will be working with other aspiring writers and benefit from the support and encouragement that working with a group over a whole term can bring.
This course supports several kinds of creative writing, including prose fiction, poetry, reflective writing and memoir, whether they are finished pieces or works-in-progress.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £130.00 - Advanced creative non-fiction workshop Course start date: Wed 6 May 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Erica BuistThis advanced workshop is designed for students who have already completed introductory and intermediate creative non-fiction courses and would like to focus on workshopping their writing.
Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £85.00 - Starting your novel Course start date: Wed 6 May 2026 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Harper WaltonGot a great idea for a novel? Jump start your project in this supportive course that covers craft basics such as character and plot. Ideal for writers of fiction with some experience who have an idea for a novel.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £125.00 - Advanced fiction writing workshop Course start date: Thu 7 May 2026 (and 9 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Livia FranchiniFor experienced writers, this supportive but rigorous workshop offers the perfect opportunity to develop your novel or short story. Receive in-depth feedback and benefit from detailed group discussions on the art of fiction.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £259.00 Concession £130.00 - Picture book writing Course start date: Sat 9 May 2026 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lou KuenzlerWould you like to write a picture book text for young children? This course is designed for children's writers and for illustrators wishing to write their own stories; a starter course to develop both your ideas and your technique.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £65.00 - Nature writing Course start date: Sat 9 May 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Julie GartonWhat greater muse could a writer ask for than the wonders of the planet that surrounds them? Learn how to capture the majesty of nature on the page with this exciting course in creative non-fiction.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Writing inspiration jam Course start date: Sun 10 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Claire CollisonThis fun, inspiring day workshop explores the many sources of inspiration available to writers in their everyday lives.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £15.00 - Craft focus: voice and dialogue in fiction Course start date: Sun 10 May 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lucy PopescuAll 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 - Ways into poetry: intensive Course start date: Tue 12 May 2026 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alice FrecknallAre you just starting to write poetry? This shorter version of our introductory Ways into poetry course offers an opportunity to experiment with language and a variety of poetic devices. Discover the key elements of a poem in a friendly and interactive class.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £80.00 - Writing poetry through objects at Sir John Soane's Museum Course start date: Thu 14 May 2026
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Timothy FoxDelve into the realm of objects in this one-day poetry course, where we will probe how we might write about the material world, inspired by the collection in Sir John Soane’s Museum.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £45.00 - Writing middle grade fiction: a taster Course start date: Sat 16 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil ArkseyMiddle grade fiction now has a profile higher than ever before. Find out more about this rich and exciting category of fiction for young people and develop your own ideas for middle grade stories.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £40.00 - Getting away with murder: how to write crime fiction Course start date: Tue 19 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Sophie McKenzieWant to write a murder mystery that will knock readers dead? On this course you'll learn how to plot a murder most horrid and develop your writing to create maximum suspense.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £80.00 - Ways into creative writing: intensive Course start date: Wed 20 May 2026 (and 9 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Eleanor PennyNot sure whether creative writing is for you? Give it a try on one of these fun and supportive short courses covering the basics of fiction and poetry. Increase your confidence and produce work through guided exercises and discussion.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £80.00
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