Don’t blush, but budding erotic novelists can learn how to replicate the success of the smash hit Fifty Shades of Grey as a month-long workshop comes to Bradford.

Bradford Libraries is running a course titled Between the Sheets, which invites people to sample different erotic fiction and be inspired to become the next E.L. James, the author of the hit Fifty Shades trilogy.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the Council’s portfolio holder for culture, said: “We're always looking for ways to introduce a new audience to the reading and enjoyment of books.

“Earlier this year we ran a Mills & Boon workshop which we could have run many times over. It was hugely popular.

“So we know this new Between the Sheets workshop will also be a bestseller for us.

“People who have been wowed by Fifty Shades of Grey might also want to have a look at other books of a similar genre like Lady Chatterley's Lover which caused a stir for its erotic content when it was first published but which we now think of as a classic. We have a great literary legacy in Bradford so we want to make sure we're encouraging the great writers of tomorrow.”

The nation's libraries are hosting the erotic reading nights.

Led by Xcite Books, the courses invite visitors to sample 30 titles, from early erotica to 1980s efforts such as Jilly Cooper's Riders.

“There's nothing new about erotic fiction – civilised societies have been enjoying the genre ever since Sappho penned erotic verse in the 6th century BC,” Hazel Cushion, the managing director of Xcite, said. “It is written to entertain and arouse but requires the reader's imagination to be part of that journey.

“Pornography is often degrading to women while the books we've chosen are empowering.”

Both Xcite and publisher Mills & Boon say Fifty Shades Of Grey has actually got people reading again, because it is entertaining, exciting and easy to read.

Bradford is one of 33 places hosting the course.

For more information about how to take part, call Dionne Hood at Bradford Libraries on (01535) 618211.