How to be a critic with Lyn Gardner

Learn how to establish a distinctive voice, critical authority and a trustworthy reputation

Quality criticism remains one of the best ways for talented writers to make a name for themselves. This illuminating course presents unique insights into the craft of cultural criticism from a heavyweight panel including some of the Guardian's most experienced writers. Leading theatre critic Lyn Gardner, Guardian TV critic Sam Wollaston, film writer Ben Walters and visual arts lecturer Gilda Williams show how the best critics share their passions, enlighten their audience and make the cultural world a better place.

Offering practical advice on how to write about the arts, as well as an overview of the industry, you'll learn how to make your voice heard among the clamour of online opinion, as well as how to tell stories that give your work critical authority and genuine purpose. You'll also learn about the realities of turning pro, how top writers make it pay, and how to carve out your own niche to discuss a subject you love. Whether you're an outspoken blogger, a working journalist, or simply an opinionated culture vulture, this is a great opportunity to learn more about the theory behind criticism and how to put it into practice.

This course is for you if...

• You're a blogger who wants to add more critical authority to your writing
• You're an aspiring journalist who wants to get into cultural criticism
• You're a journalist who wants to move from news or features into writing about culture
• You want to graduate from social media commentator to professional critic

Course description

This large-scale, seminar-style event introduces the essentials of writing about contemporary culture, with specific sessions focusing on art, film, TV and theatre. Topics covered on the day include:

• Constructive criticism: how to tell a story with a review
• What distinguishes good arts writing from bad
• How a well-written description can be more powerful than a fiery polemic
• Translating visual arts into readable copy
• The trouble with star ratings: the crucial difference between opinion and argument
• Theatre criticism in the digital era and TV criticism in the age of the box set: how the digital landscape is transforming the critic's job
• The realities of turning pro: how to make criticism pay

Tutor profiles

Lyn Gardner is a British theatre critic, writer and journalist who works for the Guardian. She also writes children's novels, including Into the Woods (2006) and Out of the Woods (2010), both illustrated by Mini Grey and published by David Fickling Books. Lyn is also the author of the Stage School Series, based around a young girl named Olivia attending stage school. Before joining the Guardian, Lyn was a founder member of the City Limits cooperative where she edited the theatre section.

Ben Walters writes on film for the Guardian and Sight & Sound and was cabaret editor of Time Out London from 2009 to 2013. He has written books about Orson Welles, The Office and (with JM Tyree) The Big Lebowski, and programmed seasons for BFI Southbank. Ben created BURN, a platform for moving images by cabaret artists, in 2010, and co-directed the feature documentary This Is Not a Dream (2012) and short documentary Vinegar to Jam (2013), both on performance subjects. He blogs at nottelevision.net. Ben's 60-Minute Masterclasses ebook on critical writing was recently published by Guardian Shorts.

Sam Wollaston is TV critic for the Guardian.

Gilda Williams is a London correspondent for Artforum magazine and the author of How to Write About Contemporary Art. Gilda has 25 years' experience writing, editing, commissioning, teaching, reading and looking at contemporary art, including roles as commissioning editor for contemporary art for Phaidon Press, London, and managing editor at Flash Art International. Her writing has appeared in Tate Etc., Parkett, Art Monthly, Art in America and Time Out. She also writes about film for Sight & Sound magazine and teaches on the esteemed MFA in Curating at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website