A literary stalwart in New
York, this public library offers free courses several times a
month. Check the website to see when to attend workshops covering
all things creative writing, storytelling and poetry, each taught
amid the library’s impressive book collection.

This instructional website has countless trailblazers
offering insights and lessons into their respective fields, from
cookery classes with Gordon Ramsey to acting lessons with Natalie
Portman. £170 per year provides access to all courses. For literary
workshops, choose between Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell, James
Patterson and other established writers for 23 lessons covering how
to start the creative process, how to engage readers and
manipulative information, and how to formulate a gripping plot.

As the Unesco City of Literature 2017 and one of the UK’s most
creative hubs, Manchester is a great place to
improve your writing skills. Offering lessons from leading writers
such as Jeanette Winterson CBE and Ian McGuire, this postgraduate
creative writing course has an
impressive alumni including bestselling writer Sophie Hannah and
Susan Barker. Naturally, you are expected to have achieved a
sufficient grade in a relevant undergraduate degree.

One of New
York’s longest running programmes, Gotham Writers Workshop hosts regular classes
involving workshops, exercises and seminars. Don’t worry if you
miss out on the sign up date, the workshop offers drop-in sessions.
Alternatively check the website for the free weekly class.

If you already have some experience writing and want to broaden
your scope, why not try this short course in travel writing? Learn how to
evoke a sense of place, structure your story and develop
observation skills to create engaging and inspiring content.
Alternatively, try the Freelance Writing course, which provides a
foundation in researching, writing and pitching skills for
magazines and newspapers, taught over eight weekly lessons.

The recent success of writers such as Sally Rooney and Anna
Burns have placed Ireland and Northern Ireland back on the literary
map. Dublin has several institutions
offering writing courses, but the Irish Writers Centre is one of the best, with classes
on offer such as poetry, fiction and screenwriting.

Aimed at writers who have already completed introductory
courses, this online workshop teaches novel
writing from initial story creation and plot development, to
complex characters and subverting reader expectations. Learn how to
critically engage with your own writing in order to ensure its
commercial viability and appeal to a mass audience.

Since 1929 Faber & Faber has published some of the world’s
leading writers, including T. S. Eliot and Ted Hughes. Attend this
comprehensive six-month writing course to learn how to effectively
structure and develop your novel. Courses take place in London’s literary epicentre,
Bloomsbury, with talks from Faber & Faber’s commissioning
editors and opportunities to showcase your work to literary agents
at the end of the course. The workshop is available as an
evening course, with 22 two-hour sessions every Wednesday.

With alumni including Anne Sexton, this course is sure to teach you invaluable writing
skills. One of the oldest and most prestigious courses in the US,
this university offers a variety of classes spanning from fiction
and poetry to drama and criticism. It’s notoriously intense, so
you’ll be expected to work hard, but you’re sure to gain invaluable
experience and world-class teaching.

What better place to be inspired than in teaching rooms
overlooking the Hudson? New York’s Poets
House provides one-day classes or six-week courses covering
specific poetry-related topics. No application is needed, just
enter on the website.

Head to Cambridge
University to take part in its Creative Writing Summer
Programme and stay in one of the university’s historic
colleges. Develop existing writing skills with either fiction or
non-fiction classes, broaden your ability to write for different
genres and styles, and learn how to critically reflect on your own
work with the help of experienced tutors. With the course being at
one of the world’s top universities, you’ll have to put in a lot of
hard work – expect evenings to be filled with lots of reading and
essay writing.

Offering lectures packed full of important information, the
Guardian Masterclasses are a great
way to broaden your knowledge and get to know the creative
industry. The popular course titled How to Start Your Career as a
Freelance Journalist is run by features writer and columnist Coco
Khan, and teaches how to spot a good story, pitch to editors and
get properly paid for your work. If poetry is more up your street,
try Poetry: A Practical Guide, a one-day course run by Jem Poster,
Cambridge University’s creative writing tutor.