Iszi Lawrence

Iszi Lawrence (born 7 June 1985^[1]) is a British broadcaster, comedian and author. She presents The Forum on the BBC World Service,^[2] and co-presents the podcast Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny.^[3]

Education

Lawrence attended Wychwood School in Oxford. She studied geography at the University of Bristol, graduating with first-class honours. She later studied a diploma in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and graduated with this diploma.^[4]

Broadcasting career

Lawrence was producer for the 2013 documentary film Rock and Roll's Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie.^[5]

In 2016, Lawrence began presenting for the BBC Radio 4 programme Making History,^[6] which explores historical topics. She joined the presenting team for the programme officially in 2018.^[7]

In 2021, Lawrence appeared in the TV series Royals: Keeping the Crown, which examined the successes of, and difficult events relating to, various royal families.^[8] Also in 2021, she appeared^[9] in the TV series^[10] The Lost Pirate Kingdom^[9] which examined real pirates in the Caribbean.^[10] Also in 2021, she appeared in the factual television series Ancient Apocalypse, as a history expert.^[11]

In 2022, Lawrence began co-presenting Your Place or Mine on BBC Radio 4 with Shaun Keaveny.^[12] In the same year, she appeared as a history expert in the factual television series U-Boat Wranglers.^[11]

As of 2023, Lawrence presented The Forum,^[13] an in-depth discussion programme on the BBC World Service's English-language service. She still presents the programme today.

Lawrence presents the British Museum's Membercast podcast, which explores topics connected to artifacts in the museum's collections.^[14]

Comedy career

Lawrence was a semi-finalist in the BBC Radio 7 New Comedy Awards.^[15]

Lawrence has performed comedy in many countries, and in venues where comedy is not commonly performed, such as museums.^[16] However, she has performed in conventional venues for comedy, also: in 2012, she had a show Wotnot, at the Edinburgh Fringe.^[17]

She appears regularly at the Lil Fat Comedy Club in Oxfordshire.^[15]

Writing career

Lawrence is the author of several books, all aimed at children.^[18] Her book The Time Machine Next Door was launched at Waterstones in Reading in 2023.^[19] She has worked with the illustrator Rebecca Bagley for at least some of her books.^[20] Her series of books The Unstoppable Letty Pegg is a historical adventure series.^[21]

She runs workshops focussing on historical storywriting and history in general for children studying at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3.^[22]

Personal life

Lawrence's family is multicultural, including people from Australia and Morocco.^[16]

She has a dark blue belt in Japanese-style jujutsu.^[21]