This course aims to inspire you as a writer to re-engage with your surroundings and create new work. Participants will be encouraged and taught to reflect on their own work and appreciate the work of other writers in a more nuanced way.

Good writing comes from curiosity, close observation and looking afresh. This course will provide an enjoyable way for those new to the city, as well as hardened Londoners, to discover more about this remarkable place.

What will I study on this short course?

On this ten-week course, you'll have a different writing exercise each week. Each task will be based on a different aspect of London and will be aimed to get you to develop your ability and confidence as a writer

In class, we will share our own work and will also look to take inspiration from the work of some famous London writers. 

The course aims to provide you with new and different stimuli as a writer and will hopefully prompt you to write more throughout the week, to generate new material and to experiment with different working styles.

Week-to-week

• Week 1. Introduction and warm up exercises. London as a source of inspiration.
• Week 2. London Views: “a wilderness of steeples”
• Week 3. London Transport: writing inspired by journeys underground and overground.
• Week 4. Sharpening your senses: London through taste and through sounds.
• Week 5. London characters: “beautiful idiots and brilliant lunatics”.
• Week 6. Writing inspired by London artworks.
• Week 7. City of ghosts: London past and present.
• Week 8. The dark side: “that great cess pool”. London crime and nightlife.
• Week 9. Shops and markets.
• Week 10. London Calling: hopes, dreams, and disappointments.

What will I learn on this short course?

Participants will undertake a series of exercises to generate new material and experiment with different approaches and will end the course with a portfolio of London pieces.

Who teaches this short course?

This short course is taught by Sonia Lambert from the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths. Sonia is a published writer and PhD Candidate at Goldsmiths, with an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.

For more information and to apply