Award-winning novelist Diana Evans leads a special fiction-writing masterclass in South London, sharing practical advice on how to create memorable characters and bring fictional worlds to life.
Presented by South London Writing School, the two-hour session is designed for people writing novels or shorter fiction and offers the opportunity to learn directly from one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary Black writers.
Evans is the bestselling author of 26a, The Wonder, Ordinary People, A House for Alice and the nonfiction collection I Want to Talk to You.
Her debut novel 26a won the inaugural Orange Award for New Writers and established her as a distinctive new voice in British fiction.
Her later novel Ordinary People received the South Bank Sky Arts Award and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.
Across her work, Evans has explored family, relationships, marriage, identity, Black British life and the experiences of people living in contemporary London.
During this masterclass, she will focus on one of the central challenges of fiction writing: how to create characters who feel fully alive.
Participants will explore how description, psychology, memory and imagination can be used to develop a rich cast of characters and communicate both the dramatic and everyday realities of life through fiction.
The session is suitable for writers working on novels as well as shorter fiction and is intended to give participants practical tools they can take back to their own writing.
Attendees are asked to bring a notebook and pen.
Two free scholarship places are also available through the Jonathan Main Scholarship, with applications open until Wednesday 30th September 2026.
Masterclass Sunday: Fiction Writing with Diana Evans takes place at The Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace on Sunday 4th October 2026 from 9:00am to 11:00am.
Tickets range from £20 concessions to £40 general admission. The event is suitable for ages 16+.
More Lambeth Listings MORE
The Story
A gripping newsroom drama by Tracey Scott Wilson, The Story makes its UK premiere at the National Theatre,…
Brixton’s Black Herstory: Sisterhood, Solidarity and Resistance
Discover the remarkable women who helped shape Brixton’s rich history of activism, creativity and community on this fascinating…
Black Culture Market
Black Culture Market returns to Brixton for another vibrant weekend celebrating African and Caribbean culture, creativity and commerce….
Masterclass Sunday: Fiction Writing with Diana Evans
Award-winning novelist Diana Evans leads a special fiction-writing masterclass in South London, sharing practical advice on how to…
Radical Justice – An Evening With Nani Jansen Reventlow
Award-winning human rights lawyer and author Nani Jansen Reventlow comes to the Black Cultural Archives for a special…
The Black History Culture Tour Bus
The Black History Culture Tour Bus invites visitors to discover the people, neighbourhoods and stories that have shaped…
Ta-Nehisi Coates & Tareq Baconi: On Freedom
Acclaimed American author Ta-Nehisi Coates joins writer and political analyst Tareq Baconi for a major London Literature Festival…
Kwame Dawes: Afro-Style School & Kinships
Acclaimed poet, editor and literary figure Kwame Dawes reflects on the development of Black poetry in Britain in…