A Selection of Iszi's Books
Videos:
Episode 1 - The idea behind The Roman Mysteries
HHistorical Letty Pegg - 17th November 1910
Historical Letty Pegg - November 16th 1910
Iszi Lawrence
Type of Artist:
Talk: A talk about either The Suffragettes (The Unstoppable Letty Pegg) OR The Home Front in WWII (Billie Swift Takes Flight).
Workshop 1: Writing historical fiction: how to make the past seem real.
Workshop 2: How to speak in front of people: a cheat guide to public speaking and presentations.
My talks go into the historical backgrounds of my books and how I went about writing them. I can cover them both, but I’ve found it is a LOT of information to take in all at once. The length of the talk is tailorable but short and sweet is always good. I like to answer lots of questions about all sorts of history (including dinosaurs).
In workshops I focus on storytelling, characters and making the setting seem real. I also teach children how they can research and where they can go when they are stuck for ideas. We would talk about a period in History and write the opening to a story set in that time. If there is a particular time the class is focussing on we can tailor it to that.
I also offer public speaking and presenting classes giving tips on how to control your nerves and how not to be boring. I would help the children plan a short presentation about an historical topic.
Details
Preferred age range:I’m most experienced with 7-14 year olds. Infants would be too young, but I’m happy to speak to older teenagers.
Maximum number in any one session:
Up to 30 in a workshop. Obviously the smaller the group the more feedback I can give. I’m not limited on numbers for talks but if the ages are very mixed, like an assembly in a primary school, my focus tends to go towards the younger children (as they are the ones who heckle most).
No of sessions per day:
Max 4. (If all the sessions are for the same group of children, no more than 2 sessions a day - so an assembly and a class is fine.)
Session Length:
Talk: Any length - I can snip it down to ten mins or go for 60 mins. I would recommend short and sweet with plenty of time to answer questions.
Workshop: 45-60 mins but can snip it down. Less than 30 mins means I can’t offer much feedback.
Areas prepared to travel to:
Anywhere overnight if expenses are met.
I’m based in Reading.
Transport:
Car at 45p a mile. I’m right by Tilehurst Station if you want to work out the train ticket cost.
Fees:
DBS/CRB:
Yes
Hold PLI (public liability insurance):
Yes
Website:
Twitter:
@iszi_lawrence
Titles include:
The Unstoppable Letty Pegg (Bloomsbury Ed 2020)
Billie Swift Takes Flight (Bloomsbury Ed 2021)
Testimonials:
“Iszi provided an unforgettable and engaging experience for our students. She kept over 200 year 7 pupils rapt for nearly an hour, using historical tales and personal anecdotes to bring her approach to writing to life. Her workshops were both creative and entertaining; the student-centric approach led to a bespoke experience which was unique for each class (I don’t think they’ll ever look at bumblebees in quite the same way again...) Iszi clearly brought a wealth of experience as a performer and presenter with her; I would certainly love to have her back.”
Chris Earl, Literacy Coordinator, Framwellgate School Durham.
‘Iszi ran a workshop for our Teenage History Club (a group of 12 to 19 year olds) who meet at Ancient House Museum. Iszi had a wonderfully friendly, yet assertive manner with the group which created a safe and encouraging environment for the teenagers to participate and ask questions. Iszi was able to subtly alter her style to ensure both extraverts and introverts were involved. The workshop she ran had massive impact on the teens, especially on their confidence levels and even three years later they still regularly reference it. I have no hesitation in recommending Iszi to deliver workshops in schools to all ages.’
Mellisa Hawker, Learning Officer, Norfolk Museums Service
“It was great to work with Iszi for our virtual Book Festival in October 2020, she communicated well and made it clear what she was able to deliver for us. Her session was informative, well paced, funny and really inspiring. “The Unstoppable Letty Pegg” is a brilliant historical fiction novel and it was great to learn about the research that went into the book. The young people came up with lots of brilliant questions at the end of the talk. We look forward to working with Iszi again in the future.”
Elizabeth McDonald, Wokingham Borough Libraries
Other information:
I’m very open to your ideas. Like I say, I do enjoy teaching history, and I do work for The British Museum so if you would like me to talk about Suffragettes or WWII or indeed pirates or anything the kids are into I’ve probably covered at least a corner of it in my work…