SOUTH LONDON WRITING SCHOOL at The Bookseller Crow
Join award-winning author Karen McLeod for an inspiring six week creative writing workshop that delves into the art of writing fiction from life. Book your place here The South London Writing School presents a six week creative writing course led by award-winning author and performer Karen McLeod. Weekly sessions provide the structure to help you start writing and find what it is you want to write. Karen introduces the importance of craft, while equally encouraging experimentation to discover your writing voice and see the world as a major source of inspiration. The course is held within the events space of The Bookseller Crow bookshop in south east London and takes place on Tuesday evenings over six consecutive weeks from 27th January - 3rd March 2026, 7.30 pm - 9.30pm. The content has been developed for beginners, as well as creatives who have lost their mojo or writers in need of motivation and confidence. Places are offered on a first come, first served basis with a maximum of thirteen students in each class. The total cost is £249 and is suitable for over 18s. In honour of Jonathan Main, our bookseller at Bookseller Crow who sadly died in September, we are offering one free scholarship place for someone who would be unable to attend due to financial constraints. This is aimed at the unemployed, the unwaged carers or those on a low income. To apply for this scholarship please do not book below and instead send your details, including a short description of your circumstances with SCHOLARSHIP in the email title to: scribblingcrow[at]hotmail.com COURSE STRUCTURE: Writing exercises attuned to a specific aspect of creative writing will be set each week during class. As well as this, there will be weekly explorative ‘creative assignments’ to be completed outside of class and writers should put aside a minimum of three hours per week to complete these. During the six weeks the following areas of creative writing will be introduced:
Book your place here Karen McLeod is an author, writing mentor and tutor, published in both fiction and non-fiction. With over fifteen years’ experience in teaching adults creative writing, Karen tutors for the National Centre for Writing and the Arvon Foundation, amongst other organisations. A mentor for Literature Live and writer-in-residence at Bookseller Crow Bookshop. Karen's recently published memoir, Lifting Off, is about the twelve years she worked for British Airways as long-haul cabin crew and how, after going into freefall, creative writing brought her back in to land. Lifting Off was longlisted for The Pat Kavanagh Award at Goldsmith University and the Polari Prize 2025. In Search of the Missing Eyelash, her debut novel, was published by Jonathan Cape and won the Betty Trask Award and shortlisted for the Best First Novel Award by the Authors’ Club. What You Need To KnowAge restriction: 18+ Terms & Conditions
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“Autobiography is not important. Authenticity is important… I believe there is always exposure, vulnerability, in the writing process, which is not to say it is either confessional or memoir. Simply, it is real.” – Jeanette Winterson Participant feedback “The main thing I wanted to say was ‘thank you’. When I took your course, I had a real case of lost mojo. I found you properly inspiring and your approach to life writing really helped me reconnect. The novel I’m working on had its genesis in your class so you had a very real impact.” I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a creative course so much. It has truly opened my eyes, expanded my mind and encouraged me to write more. Thank you again for being such an inspiring teacher and running such fantastic classes! “I got exactly what I wanted and needed on your course! I was looking for ways to access writing that felt all locked up inside of me and I didn’t want to ‘learn to write like everyone else’… Thank you for an absolutely fantastic course.” “I loved the course – it knocked me off my normal pattern of thinking and got me to try new things! Also I got some really useful feedback.'" |