Life in the past Lane

Historian and social media sensation Dr Jess Venner, who is a speaker at this year’s Festival, was delighted to be invited to speak on Sky News recently about the launch of her debut book The Lost Voices of Pompeii, and the rise of AI history content.

Her passion is making ancient history accessible, and she now has more than 260k social media followers including on Instagram and Tik Tok.

In the book she explores the final day in Pompeii which was destroyed in 79AD by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Drawing on archaeological discoveries she brings the ancient streets to life through the lives of seven inhabitants who lived, worked, loved and met their fate in Pompeii.

An award-winning ancient historian and archaeologist, Dr Venner was a consultant for the BBC documentary Pompeii: The New Dig, and was recently nominated for a prestigious ITV award, as well as being selected as one of the National Gallery’s 200 Creators for its bicentenary.

Look out for her appearance at the Festival in October.