Iszi Lawrence

Writer, comedian, podcaster, and history presenter

Radio and podcasts

Iszi is a regular on BBC Radio 4. She co-presents Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny, recorded Making History with Tom Holland, and presents The Forum on BBC World Service.

She also co-presents the palaeontology podcast Terrible Lizards with Dr Dave Hone and works with The British Museum on The British Museum Membercast and The British Museum Untold podcasts.

Speaking and comedy

Iszi is a knowledgeable, experienced and well-respected speaker.

She is a popular children’s historical fiction author and has performed and spoken at The Dublin Literary Fest, Hay Festival and Jersey Festival of Words. Her humour, sense of fun and immense historical knowledge make her a popular speaker for schools and colleges.

Iszi has chaired panels at The British Library, British Museum, British Science Festival. She has also created and featured in bespoke comedy events for venues like Southwark Cathedral, The Dulwich Picture Gallery and Ashmolean Museum.

Iszi has presented award shows and celebratory events such as The Museum Heritage Awards and The Annual Ethical Gala at the Conway Hall as well as performed for The British Humanists, and QED conferences.

As a comedian she has appeared at international comedy festivals, as well as being part of a Perrier Award Winning Best Newcomer show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004. She still headlines art centres and hosts comedy nights across the country.

Film work

TV credits for Iszi include The Lost Pirate Kingdom (Netflix) and Great British Landmark Fixers (Yesterday Channel), U boat: Wargamers (Sky History).

Books

Iszi is a prolific writer of historical fiction. Her subjects range from jiu jitsu suffragettes to female spitfire pilots. Her novel, Blackbeard’s Treasure (2023) for 9-12 year olds was Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Month and her Time Machine Next Door series (6-9 year olds) is being used in classrooms across the UK. Her most recent novel, City of Spies - set during the American Revolutionary War - was published in January 2024 by Bloomsbury Education.