Roff Smith

Roff Smith originally trained as a geologist and archaeologist but preferred the world of storytelling to that of science or academia. Over the course of a thirty-year career as a writer and photographer he has covered science, history archaeological stories all over the world winning numerous awards along the way, most recently a British Archaeological Award for his coverage of discoveries made beneath the streets of London during major construction projects. He has a particular interest in Neolithic Britain and has spent several field seasons in Scotland's remote Orkney Islands following the on-going excavation of the 5000 year-old walled temple complex at the Ness of Brodgar - the discovery of which is presently rewriting British prehistory.

 As a lover of literature, he taught himself Old Norse in order to be able to read the Viking sagas in their original language and earned a masters degree in mediaeval history while attending the University of Sydney. He has travelled widely throughout Britain, visited every county, often travelling by bicycle - cycling the length of Hadrian's Wall, exploring Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides and travelling across the Scottish Highlands following the route taken by Alan Breck Stewart and David Balfour in Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Kidnapped. An Australian, he now lives in Hastings, an old seaside town on the Sussex Coast, with his English wife and two daughters.

Sally O'Driscoll

Sally O’Driscoll has a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) and was a professor for thirty years at Fairfield University before retiring. Her research and publications have focused on forms of ephemeral popular literature in Britain from the 18th century onward, and have drawn attention to the complex ways that texts and images complemented one in another in once-common printed works like broadsides and pamphlets. She has published several edited volumes or journal issues on print culture and public space. Sally has taught courses in 18th-century and modernist British literature along with contemporary World Literature, with an emphasis on setting the stories in their cultural contexts. In addition, she works as an editor with the authors of popular and scholarly books, articles, and catalogues, helping to bring inspired first drafts to the publication stage, in fields ranging from American art history to nonfiction books on current issues.

In addition to Great Britain, Sally’s research has taken her to Continental Europe, where she travels frequently, including to hike the Camino de Santiago. She has also lectured on ephemeral print and gender studies internationally, most recently in China, and in Turkey where she was a keynote speaker at Koç University, Ankara. Sally has received many research grants, has been a fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, and has taught at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Carol Ann Lloyd

Carol Ann Lloyd is a popular speaker and author who specializes in Early Modern History, particularly the Tudors and Shakespeare. She has enjoyed speaking to Smithsonian audiences for eight years, offering programs about Henry VIII and his Six Wives, Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, the Wars of the Roses, Jane Austen, Mothers of the Monarchs, and Shakespeare. She also speaks nationally for Royal Oak Foundation, Agecroft Hall, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University, TEDx, and numerous community venues. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and holds graduate degrees in Education from the University of Virginia and English from the University of Utah. The former Manager of Visitor Education of Folger Shakespeare Library, Carol Ann designs interactive Shakespeare programs for students and families. She also delivers corporate communication workshops for organizations in the Washington, DC area and is the author of Building Relationships, One Conversation at a Time: A Guide for Work and Home. Carol Ann is currently writing a book about the Tudors.