Category: News (page 4 of 12)

City Writes Autumn 2023 Open for Submissions

October 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments

City Writes Autumn Deadline 10 November 2023

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

With a new academic year comes more fantastic writing from the short courses at City with our showcase event, City Writes, this term on Wednesday 13th December at 7pm on Zoom. We are delighted to announce that our published author this time is the brilliant writer and tutor, Caroline Green. Not only does Caroline write fiction for young people and adults, she is also the much valued and acclaimed teacher of the Crime and Thriller Writing short course and Crime and Thriller Writing Summer School here at City. From YA, through psychological thriller, to supernatural detective fiction, Caroline Green is an inspirational powerhouse. Register here to save your spot for the night.

Crime writer and City Writes Autumn 2023 guest, Caroline Green

If you would like to read your work in front of a supportive audience and share the virtual stage with Caroline on the 13th December, all you need to do is submit your best 1,000 words of fiction or creative non-fiction (we accept YA but sadly NOT poetry, drama or children’s fiction) to rebekah.lattin-rawstrone.2@city.ac.uk by midnight on Friday 17th November. Please check the full submission details here.

 

Don’t forget to sign up for the event on the 13th December here.

 

We can’t wait to read your submissions! Good luck.

Novel Studio 2022/3 Literary Agent Competition Winners Announced

July 11, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We are delighted to announce the winners of 2022/3’s Novel Studio Literary Agent Competition are Sonia Hope, Marc-Anthony Hurr and Charles Williams.

The competition is a key feature of City’s flagship short course the Novel Studio, which offers a select group of 15 aspiring novelists the dedicated time and support to hone their craft. The competition is a rare opportunity to bypass the slush pile of manuscript submissions to literary agents, and is run this year in  conjunction with Lucy Luck, literary agent at C&W Agency.

Sonia Hope’s stories have appeared in magazines, including Ambit and Ellipsis Zine, and in anthologies: Best British Short Stories 2020, and The Untangling: Jerwood/Arvon Anthology Volume Nine. She was a Jerwood/Arvon mentee (fiction) for 2019/20 and shortlisted for The Guardian 4th Estate Prize 2019. In 2022 she was the recipient of the Novel Studio scholarship. Sonia is an Art Librarian working on her first novel, The Archivist.

Born in New Zealand to a British father and French mother, Marc-Anthony Hurr has dedicated his professional career to assembling from scratch a large international financial services startup in white knuckle fashion. He was shortlisted in December 2022 by Liar’s League, and in May 2023 won their Heroes & Villains competition. Marc is developing his debut novel, The Millennials.

Charles Williams has been a professional writer for twenty years, covering every topic under the sun, from policing and international aid to body image and mental health. He’s published obituaries in The Times, written and directed a play about world mythology at the Edinburgh Fringe, and contributed a story to a Doctor Who audiobook. He lives in south London.

Emily Pedder, Course Director of the Novel Studio said: “The three winners are all writers with strong, distinctive voices and we’re incredibly excited to see how their writing careers progress from here.”

Alumna Hannah Begbie, an early winner of the agent competition, published award-winning novels Mother and Blurred Lines following her graduation, and fellow winner Louise Beere was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize.

The Novel Studio was established over a decade ago and has a very strong track record of published alumni. Recent bestselling and award-winning novels include Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Anna Mazzola’s  The Unseeing, The Story Keeper, The Clockwork Girl,  and The House of Whispers, and Harriet Tyce’s Blood Orange, The Lies You Told and It Ends At Midnight.

Sonia Hope

Marc-Anthony Hurr

Charles Williams

 

City Writes Summer 2023 Event: A Braw Night to Remember

July 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

There’s nothing like an evening of readings from brilliant writers to make a summer evening special and this term’s City Writes on the 5th July was a festival of writing filled with moments of tension, terror and tenderness.

 

We kicked off the evening with the first of our competition winners, Novel Writing and Longer Works alumnus, Richard Hastings, who read from his novel-in-progress. The extract, ‘Jumble’, took us into old boxes in his character’s mother’s cupboard where it turns out she’d kept the right half of several pairs of his old childhood shoes, right down to one tiny little wellington boot. The whole audience were drawn into that moment of connection between mother and son.

 

From the importance of one set of objects to the embodied resonance of a piano, we took a step into memoir and the importance of the matrilineal connection of music next with Novel Studio alumna, Helen Ferguson, who read from her memoir-in-progress. We were lucky enough to see, in the background of Helen’s screen, the very piano her extract, ‘My Grandmother’s Piano’, spoke so eloquently about. The words were music to our ears and we look forward to hearing more about this project.

 

We took a step into the dark and unpredictable world of the social media alias next, in an extract from another Novel Studio alumna, Lana Younis, reading from her revenge comedy, Play The Long Game. The chat buzzed with delight at the northern, scathing voice of the protagonist as she went over her day and discovered some salacious news in her evening bath with her glass of merlot. This is another novel-in-progress we’re eager to read more of.

 

We stepped away from the horrors in one mind, to the dangers of airport security next with an emotionally taut and affecting short story by Introduction to Copywriting alumna Camille Poole, ‘Brown Male’. Along with Camille the whole audience were moved by sharing the character’s experience of watching her brave, young superhero son face the humiliation of institutional racism, whilst shaming herself for daring to call it out. Such a powerful story that there was a real sense of pause before we could move on.

 

Novel Studio alumna, Emily Shamma had the difficult task of following Camille, but she took us on her own emotional journey in her piece, ‘Kate’, an extract from her novel-in-progress, The Complicit. The extract followed Kate as she navigated the complexities of a miscarriage that was initially an unintended pregnancy turned from happy uncertainty to grief.

 

Our audience were certainly on a rollercoaster of feeling that our final competition winner and Novel Studio alumna, Kate Henderson, refused to let us get off. She read her short story, ‘What Happened at Judith’s’, a masterful account of a young girl’s afternoon play date that ended with a painful revelation and a broken arm. Told in spars

e and meticulously navigated prose, it was a fabulous way to end the readers from this extremely talented bunch of City’s Creative Writing short course alumni.

 

Luckily, we had the joy of hearing from Writers’ Workshop alumna and prize-winning writer, Emma Grae next. Emma read short extracts from both her novels: her Scots Book of the Year 2022 debut, Be Guid tae yer Mammy, published by Unbound in 2021 and her second novel, The Tongue She Speaks published by Luath Press in October 2022.

 

Emma’s writing is rich with Scots and it was brilliant to get the chance to hear the writing come alive in her voice. Following these extracts, we were treated to a Q&A in which Emma explored not only the inspirations behind her work, but also her publishing journey. Teasing out the importance of valuing all voices and entering into the publishing industry with one’s eyes wide open, Emma gave us much to think about. She also shared great news about her new works, a book in Scots for children and a third novel. We can’t wait to read them.

 

City Writes Summer 2023 Event was a braw night indeed. If you missed it, you can watch the event HERE. And don’t forget City Writes is a termly event. Find out more and watch out for competition dates on this blog. If this term is anything to go by, the work at City Writes goes from strength to strength.

Novel Studio Showcase 2023

July 3, 2023 / / 0 Comments

By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

 

There’s nothing quite like listening to new writing talent and this year’s 2022/23 cohort of Novel Studio students held their own in a fantastic showcase event of their writing, reading their extracts with professional aplomb.

 

The evening began with an overview of the unbelievable list of published alumni including Novel Studio tutor, Kiare Ladner, Deepa Anappara, Hannah Begbie, Harriet Tyce, Elizabeth Chakrabarty, Attiyah Khan, Anna Mazzola and Greg Keen. Next year will also see alumna Lara Haworth’s debut, Monumenta, which will be published in June 2024 and just this week a new announcement about another alumna, Jo Cunningham, whose murder mystery, Death By Numbers, will be out with Constable in August 2024. The Novel Studio is incredibly proud of its alumni and their ongoing successes. You can find out even more about the alumni here.

 

2019 saw the introduction of the Novel Studio scholarship, generously funded by alumna Harriet Tyce. The scholarship provided a fully funded place for one successful applicant to the course from a low-income household. We’re immensely grateful to Harriet for this brilliant scheme which ran for the fourth time this year, and excited that The Book Edit will be continuing the scholarship for a fifth year for the 2023/24 Novel Studio cohort.

 

Alison Halsley

This year was a difficult one emotionally for students and staff. We were all devastated earlier this year when one of our treasured students, Alison Halsley, tragically died. Alison had a darkly comic sense of humour and her lively prose and personality has been missed in class and was missed at the showcase. This year’s showcase anthology is dedicated to her memory. She never failed to make us laugh with her work and we’re very sorry for her loss.

 

In spite of these difficult circumstances, the students managed to remain incredibly focussed and dedicated to their writing as the readings were soon to show.

 

Inspiring them on, we were lucky enough to hear from alumna, Lara Haworth, who joined the event to wish the students well with their ongoing careers, encouraging them to appreciate the nurture and support offered by the Novel Studio during and after the completion of the course. We couldn’t be happier for Lara and we will hold her to the invitation she made to all of the attendees to celebrate at the launch party of her debut in 2024.

Lara Haworth

Filled with Lara’s enthusiasm, the students’ readings kicked off to a fiery start with our first reader, Emily Shamma whose novel The Complicit, moves between London in 2010 and Oxford in the nineties, unravelling a darkly comic tale of love, damage and betrayal. Emily left us reeling from her character’s discovery of his car, burnt and marked by ominous graffiti on the wall behind it. An unnerving but dramatic opening for the talent to come.

 

We left the dodgy North London back street for a tale of two friends in 2000s West England next as author Marc-Anthony Hurr read from his novel, The Millennials. The chat lit up with enthusiasm for Marc-Anthony’s description of childhood friendship and the dizzy descriptions of the onset of epilepsy.

We left love and friendship behind for the acerbic and dangerously anonymous world of social media where a desire for revenge allows an alter ego to take increasing control in the tangible world as Lana Younis read from her novel, Play The Long Game.

 

Lana’s discovery ringing in our ears, we headed to London’s future next, taking a psychic journey into Heidi Ng’s novel, Divination. The idea of a futuristic novel with its roots in the Oracle of Delphi excited us all and we were dazed by our trip into the psychic realm.

Abim Tayo read for us next, sharing an extract from his novel, Dancing in the Snow, set in Lagos. The audience was terrified by the childhood memory of a man shaking a car and smearing it with faeces. It certainly made us all excited to hear what would happen next.

 

Transporting us to the Bucharest Ring Road, we heard from Nico Bechis next as she read from her novel Horse With No Rider, introducing us to casual prostitution and the delights of swearing in Romanian. A haunting and eloquent portrait, we were all hooked.

 

We went from the transactional to the tender mesh of relationships forged in teenage years next as we heard Matthew Triggs read from his novel, ST16. A sentimental kiss in the swirl of light snowfall caught by the soft glow of the street lamps, held us all in unfulfilled longing.

Following the relationship theme, we found ourselves contemplating the possible political complexities of love in Monica Bathiya’s extract from her novel, Middle Ground, next. The subtle shifts of inner thought had us all wondering what would happen to Monica’s characters, whether there was real love between them and even then if it was enough to survive the complexities of post-pandemic Mumbai.

 

Taking us into the glamorous world of the celebrity and business elite next, Gayle Killilea threw us right into the middle of her fast-paced romantic thriller, The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants, as she shared her character Walter’s typical morning routine. The audience chat revealed a rather desperate desire for a night out with Walter, as long as he was paying.

 

We went from fast cars to a more sedate 60th in a pub garden next with Ben O’Donnell as he read from his novel, Sweet Caroline. A wonderfully pitched extract that gave us all Caroline was thinking whilst revealing so much more to the audience, we were left eager to find out what would happen to this seemingly happy family, sensing all was not as it seemed.

 

From family celebration to late night clubbing, we hit the dance floor with Marta Ramos next as she read from her novel, Spaghetti Meatballs. Filled with the energy and rush of youth, we couldn’t get enough of Marta’s extract and were sorry to see her character fall into bed, wishing instead we were speeding through the night on the back of a scooter.

 

Novel Studio Scholarship Winner Sonia Hope read next, taking us from the dance floor to the more sedately curated space of the Library, as she read from her novel, The Archivist. What would happen to these two characters whose first meeting was tinged with the awkwardness of intrigue and desire?

 

Taking us from one archive to another, we went headlong into the digital archive next with our final reader, Charles Williams. He read an extract from his novel, The London Project, giving us a filmic view into the first meeting of two lovers-to-be. Voyeuristic? Perhaps. But he reassured us that it was really ok to watch and listen, afterall, we needed to understand that these characters were all dead.

 

It was an enigmatic and poignant ending to a scintillating night of readings from some extremely talented writers. Thanking the students, the tutors Kiare Ladner and Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, and the Novel Studio Director, Emily Pedder, we also thanked the staff at City, particularly Josie Gleave and Robert Lastman. The audience was also thanked for their great contribution to the night.

 

What a fantastic showcase for the bestselling and prize-winning writers of the future. Go Novel Studio Cohort 2022/23!

And for anyone who wasn’t able to be there you can now watch a recording from the event HERE.

Novel Studio Deadline 30th June 2023

June 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments
The deadline for the Novel Studio is fast approaching! You have until 5pm on June 30th to send in your application.

Tick Tock

This flagship year-long course has been instrumental in launching the careers of many novelists. From bestselling crime writer Harriet Tyce to award-winning novelist Deepa Anappara, the Novel Studio is the place to develop and grow as a writer.
From researching your ideas, plotting and planning to writing, editing and familiarising yourself with the publishing industry, the programme will guide you through the tricky terrain of novel writing.
Taught by established writers and editors, with opportunities to meet literary agents and publishing professionals, if you’re ready to take your novel writing to the next level, this course is for you.
Apply directly with 2000 words of your fiction and a CV to Emily.Pedder.1@city.ac.uk
Deadline 30th June 5pm.
We look forward to reading your applications!

City Writes Summer 2023 Event Competition Winners Announced

June 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We’re delighted to share the winners of this term’s City Writes Competition who will be reading their work alongside the fantastic, Emma Grae at 7pm on the 5th July, on Zoom. You can register to come along and listen to them here.

 

This term’s winners are:

 Helen Ferguson for ‘My Grandmother’s Piano’, an extract from her translation memoir.

Helen Ferguson

Helen is a translator of Russian and German. Her first piece of writing was published in the Lighthouse Literary Journal. She completed The Novel Studio in 2020 and is now working on a translator memoir under the mentorship of Megan Bradbury.

Richard Hastings

Richard Hastings for ‘Jumble’, an extract from his novel-in-progress.

Richard had a successful career in TV (BBC, ITV, C4) before the City Novel Writing and Longer Works short course in summer 2021 inspired him to embark on a major life change. He left the television industry and returned to university (after a 31-year gap!) to take the First Novel MA at St. Mary’s University, London, graduating in Spring 2023 with distinction. Richard is currently working on the third draft of his first novel, which he is hoping to submit to literary agents (sometime!) in the Autumn.

Kate Henderson

Kate Henderson for her story ‘What Happened at Judith’s’.

Kate is an alumna of the Certificate in Novel Writing (now The Novel Studio) and Writers’ Workshop. Growing up in quiet streets in towns where nothing much happened, her writing likes to ask what might be going on unseen next door, or across the way, and casts an eye on the unexpected in the seemingly everyday. Her novel-in-progress, All We Have to Go On is set in a luxury retreat for the cryogenically frozen and follows an artist as she tries to remember who she is and comply with her rehabilitation in a world where she can’t be sure she’s safe.

Kate works in professional services and lives in Surrey with her partner and daughters.

Camille Poole

Camille Poole for her story, ‘Brown Male’.

Camille found her way to City Writes through the Introduction to Copywriting course. She works for a Milton Keynes’ based community charity whilst drafting her WIP, a new adult novel which explores themes of othering and generational curses.

Emily Shamma for ‘Kate’, an extract from her novel-in-progress,

Emily Shamma

Emily is a City periodical journalism and Novel Studio graduate. A former Vogue Talent Contest winner, she started her career as a fashion journalist, before moving into business journalism. Following this, Emily worked in the City, then as a Director at Tesco for seventeen years. But her passion has always been writing, and she now writes creatively for pleasure—alongside running her own business, navigating a hectic London family life, and stoking a serious restaurant, theatre and gallery addiction.

Lana Younis for an extract from her novel-in-progress, Play The Long Game.

Lana, a proud native of Yorkshire and coincidentally born on National Yorkshire Day, embarked on her writing journey during her rebellious teenage years. In 2022, she embraced her passion by enrolling on the Novel Writing and Longer Works course at City University. She swiftly joined The Novel Studio to explore the realms of literary dark humour. Her debut novel, Play The Long Game, serves as a testament to her love for writing unreliable narrators and morally ambiguous characters driven by their relentless pursuit of personal gain.

Lana Younis

These talented authors will all be reading their winning pieces on the 5th July over Z  oom at 7pm. Register here to join them and hear from prize-winning alumna, Emma Grae. From revenge through carefully preserved mementos all the way to the casually observed affairs of the neighbours, City Writes Summer Event 2023 promises to have you on the edge of your seat. We can’t wait to see you there.

The Book Edit to sponsor £1000 Novel Studio Scholarship

June 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Growing Concerns

We are delighted to announce that from October 2023 The Book Edit will be sponsoring a Novel Studio scholarship worth £1000.

Launched in 2004, City’s year-long Novel Studio programme provides essential techniques and guidance to enable its students to draft their own novels, and gain interest from an agent. With a strong publication track record, the course is a highly respected and competitive programme with a reputation for nurturing talent.

However, the financial burden of tuition fees can be a significant barrier for many talented writers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since 2019, a scholarship for a student from a low-income household has been generously supported by Sunday Times bestselling author and alumna Harriet Tyce. (Former winners have included the writers Lola Okolosie, Janice Okoh, and Maua Hawa. This year’s recipient is Sonia Hope.)

For 2023’s cohort, The Book Edit will be sponsoring a £1000 scholarship for one talented writer from a low-income household to be used towards the total course fees.

Founded by Novel Studio Director Emily Pedder, The Book Edit is an editorial consultancy committed to supporting under-represented writers. Since its inception in 2021, their annual Writers’ Prize initiative has launched the careers of several novelists. Speaking of their involvement with City’s Novel Studio scholarship, Emily has said ‘We are delighted to be partnering with City on this important project and look forward to seeing the literary talent that emerges.’

The Book Edit’s commitment to fostering inclusivity and empowering underrepresented voices aligns with City’s aims to create a culture in which diversity and equality of opportunity are actively promoted, and helps support the university’s vision for creating a more diverse literary landscape.

For prospective students interested in applying for the Novel Studio Scholarship, please visit our website for detailed information on the application process and eligibility criteria. The deadline for the scholarship is 31 August.

If you have any questions about the scholarship, please email the course director Emily Pedder on Emily.Pedder.1@city.ac.uk.

Canongate buy Novel Studio alumna Lara Haworth’s debut novel Monumenta

April 28, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Lara Haworth

We are beyond excited to announce that Novel Studio alumna Lara Haworth has sold her debut novel, Monumenta, to Canongate. World rights were acquired from Lara’s agent, Jo Bell, at Bell Lomax Moreton and the book will be published in June 2024.

Lara is a writer, filmmaker and political researcher who specialises in the UK’s move to become carbon zero by 2050. An extract from Monumenta that she turned into a short story won a Bridport Prize, and her poem ‘The Thames Barrier’ was awarded a prize in the Cafe Writers Poetry Competition. Lara was an exceptionally talented member of the Novel Studio 2018/19 and we could not be more delighted with her publication success. Watch this space for more about the book and Lara’s development as a novelist.

For anyone interested in finding out more about the course Lara took at City, The Novel Studio is now open to applications with a deadline of 30 May 2023.

For all our writing short courses visit HERE.

The Starlit Dancer: the magical new book by City copywriting tutor Maggie Richards

April 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Author and City tutor Maggie Richards

In celebration of the publication of her new book, The Starlit Dancer, City writing short courses caught up with author Maggie Richards to find out more about the book and her writing career.

Short Courses (SC): Please tell us a bit about yourself and your role at City

Maggie Richards (MR): I’m a former Times, Sunday Times and Guardian journalist and author of ‘A Guide to Being a Better Being.’ At City teach a monthly sell-out masterclass on Zoom called ‘Introduction to Copywriting’. It’s a fun and practical distillation of inspiring insights, techniques and approaches I’ve learned over my 24-year career.

I love the diversity of international students that the course attracts, and witnessing their confidence and clarity grow over just six hours. Several have gone on to secure paid copywriting roles, which is great! I also teach City’s Writing for Business short course

SC: You’ve published The Starlit Dancer, a beautiful picture book for 3-7 year-olds about Mabel, a girl whose love lights up the world. It’s a really inspiring read and a great way to help children sleep better and introduce them to the idea of a loving inner voice they can trust. Meditation is a key part of your life and work. With Spiritual Adviser, Executive Producer – Christspiracy, Associate Producer – SLAY Film and Screenwriter Cher Chevalier, you co-wrote the 24 (8×3) meditations that launched Calm, iTunes App of the Year 2017. What made you turn towards writing a children’s book?

MR: Through Cher, also author of the Animals Actually A-Z of books, I’d already been guided to work spiritually with children, and had set up relaxation classes to teach them about kindness, positive thinking and meditation. Good books can change lives and perhaps it was a natural progression to uplift little ones through a something they can hold and keep.

 

SC:  Can you tell us about the process of writing and publishing the book?

MR: The Starlit Dancer is rare because it’s an inspired book – the story came flowing into my mind one day. I didn’t know it was coming! It’s always a special honour to be entrusted with words, especially when they’re so joyful.

It was important that only good energy went into our little book, which is why the author, advisers, translators and narrators are all successful veggie-vegan women.

The Spanish version was co-translated and narrated by Argentine actress, film producer and animal rights activist Liz Solari, while Australia-based voice over artist Natasha Beaumont narrates the English version, and a quick Google search for ‘vegan illustrators’ connected us with the talented Antonella Canavese from Italy.

For full control of the publishing process, I self-published with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. It was largely quick, simple and easy, and when I needed help, the Customer Service team responded within 24 hours. 

Formatting the manuscripts as a paperback and ebook was done by professionals on fiverr.com, while the audiobook files were prepared by recording studios, and I uploaded them for free to ACX.com. Teamwork makes the dream work!

SC: You’re a copywriter by profession. How different was it to write a story for children?

MR: Copywriting requires planning, researching, meeting the brief, and often aims to sell a product or service. The Starlit Dancer story required much less effort because it was given to me in its entirety largely as it’s written.

SC: Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to write their own children’s book?

MR: Three points come to mind:

1) Choose carefully your goal and make it good. We all have a responsibility to empower little ones by educating them in the steps to success: how to be kind, happy and harmless, for example.

2) Words (and thoughts) shape our world. It’s important to speak sweetly to children, choosing positive, loving words and phrases so as to feed their minds only ‘light’.

3) Use rhyme – it’s a great way of learning and fun to write. Repetition, too, helps very young children engage and learn.

Thanks so much, Maggie, and congratulations on the book.

You can buy Maggie’s book HERE. The Starlit Dancer is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook in English, Welsh and Spanish.

If you’re interested in taking her copywriting course, click HERE.

If you would like to try your hand at writing a children’s book, our Writing for Children short course, taught by author Bryony Pearce is HERE.

For all our short writing courses, go HERE. And for all our short course news, visit our blog HERE.

 

 

 

What Are the Most Useful Skills for Adapting to AI?

April 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Intelligent life?

 

Technology is advancing so rapidly, it can sometimes feel bewildering, especially when thinking about what the future jobs market might look like. How do we ensure we keep pace and equip ourselves to adapt to the change? Read on for the subjects that could help you future-proof your career in the AI frontier.

Become an Expert in Data Analysis

Data has become supremely valuable, not least for its importance in training AI. Gaining expertise in data analysis is a smart way to stand out in the jobs market, and stay relevant. City has a range of courses designed to help you gain knowledge of, and insight into, data analysis. From Introduction to Data Analytics and Machine Learning with Python to our new Spreadsheet Data Analysis and Automation with Python  or Introduction to R for Data Analysis, our short courses in data analysis will give you a head start in this rapidly changing landscape.

Codebreaking

Colour coded

Sometimes known as programming, coding is essential for anyone wanting to work effectively with AI. City has a great range of short coding courses in all the major programming languages. Take our courses in C/C++, or the ever-popular Python short courses. You can also learn JavaScript or Java, used by 42.9% and 37.8% of web developers respectively working in artificial intelligence or machine learning, according to a recent survey by Evans Data Corporation.

Softly, Softly

It’s not all about technical skills. Working with AI requires soft skills too, from communication to creativity. Our short courses in Presentation Skills,  Effective Communication and Stoicism will improve your interpersonal skills, while our vibrant range of  writing courses will kickstart your creativity. Adaptability is also a key soft skill, vital for coping with the pace of technology change; our highly interactive Leadership and Management course will sharpen your team-leading skills and ensure you get the most from your teams.

Keep it Safe

AI systems often deal with sensitive data and are vulnerable to cyber attacks. It’s important for businesses and individuals to understand the risks involved, and learn how best to mitigate them. City’s Cybersecurity Fundamentals short course provides a great foundation in the cyber security domains of networking, security engineering, risk management, incident response, governance control and legal practicalities.

Get Developing

Web development is an important skill in working with AI. From visualising AI outputs, to integrating AI with other systems, being skilled in web development will ensure you can utilise AI models in the most powerful ways. City’s short course in web development will teach you how to install Bootstrap and how to use its key components most effectively. Our Building Websites short course will enable you to plan, design, develop and publish a website that adheres to current industry standards and best practices, while our PHP course is best suited for back-end web development and can be embedded into HTML.

Storytelling

Turn the Page

As technology advances, it becomes more important than ever to differentiate what makes us human. Storytelling is one of our oldest skills, and remains an integral part of our lives. City’s short creative writing courses are designed to help you understand how stories are built, how they’re written and how they can be edited. Try our introduction to creative writing course or learn how to craft non-fiction with our Narrative Non-Fiction or Memoir Writing course.  For our full range, visit our home page HERE.

 

For all City’s short courses visit our home page HERE.

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