The Bookseller Crow launches South London Writing School with weekly course and monthly masterclasses

The Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace is launching the South London Writing School, offering a scholarship in tribute to the late co-owner Jonathan Main and monthly masterclass Sundays featuring Diana Evans and Evie Wyld. 

Founded by award-winning author and performer Karen McLeod, the programme will offer creative writing courses at the bookstore in Crystal Palace, south London, tutored by published writers, performers and industry professionals. It launches on 27th January 2026 with a six-week Fiction Writing course led by McLeod. 

In February, a series of monthly Masterclass Sundays will start, introducing industry professionals leading workshops themed around their area of expertise. 

McLeod said: “This comes as a response to the need for in-person creative writing courses, south of the river, and an antidote to the data-driven digital age. Through writing, experimentation and the love of books, the South London Writing School will nurture creativity while emphasising the power that comes from a writing community.” 

She said that the school is “built on the legacy left by Jonathan Main”, who died in September, which “ensures that creative writing is accessible to all”. 

Masterclasses programmed so far include Scriptwriting for Television with Grantchester TV series creator Daisy Coulam alongside author sessions such as Writing Comic Fiction with Kate Davies, Story Surgery with Evie Wyld, Poetry Writing with Sophia Blackwell and Fiction Writing with Diana Evans. 

McLeod is a writer and performer and tutor for the Arvon Foundation, National Centre for Writing in Norwich, Scotland’s National Writing Centre, and Polari LGBTQ+ salon. She is also writer-in-residence at Bookseller Crow where she has been running courses since 2012.

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