Mark David brings an enormous amount of talent and experience to his cartooning talks and workshops and since moving to Queensland in 2010, is now available to visit schools and libraries.
Mark has -
- More than 20 years experience as a presenter of cartooning workshops
- Presented hundreds of workshops
- And inspired more than 12,000 people, from kindergarten age to adult
Mark's credits and experience as a professional cartoonist and book illustrator include -
- More than 10,000 published cartoons
- Internationally syndicated and published in multiple languages
- Published in more than 100 books, including books for children, teens and adults
- Author of 4 books
- Former staff cartoonist at The Sydney Morning Herald
- Winner of multiple awards in cartooning
- Former president of the Australian Black and White Artists Club (now renamed as the Australian Cartoonists' Association)
- Former political cartoonist for publications such as The Australian Financial Review, The Sun Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald.
- Appearances and interviews in print, on radio and television
Mark's presentations are lively, full of motivational fun and are spectacularly successful in getting even the least confident artists drawing including faces and expressions and animals. Older students (years 3 and above) are also given insights into the generation of ideas and the business side of cartooning, books and publishing. High School students can also be introduced to some of the intriguing legal issues involved in the publishing industry.
Mark is a talented and hard-working presenter. He now works part time writing, cartooning and as a regular contributor providing feature articles (including writing, photography and cartoons) for the new quality nature magazine, Australian Wildlife Secrets. Mark can also conduct workshops on wildlife photography, writing for magazines, camera techniques and nature photography including 3D animations suitable for both primary and secondary age students.
He has fallen in love with Queensland and wonders why he didn't move here sooner.
Testimonials
I have received great feedback from both our staff and attendees about your classes and would like to thank you for sharing your expertise with us.
Mark David - Moreton Bay Region Libraries, January, 2013.
Queensland
Speaker type
- Author
- Illustrator / Designer
- Cartoonist
Audience
Links
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Get in quick to book your preferred speakers!
Don't forget to check out the Touring Speakers page as we have lots of speakers on the move this year.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Brisbane | Sunshine Coast | 10 Jun - 11 Jun 2026 | ||
Sydney - Last Day | 12 Jun - 12 Jun 2026 | ||
Perth - Last Day | 26 Jun - 26 Jun 2026 | ||
Brisbane | 01 Jul - 31 Aug 2026 | ||
Brisbane | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | 27 Jul - 31 Jul 2026 |
What people are saying
Thank you for single-handedly bringing my 10 year old son back to reading.
Hit the nail on the head. Totally in line with the curriculum. Would recommend him to anyone in Australia, New Zealand, worldwide. Fantastic!
Sophie was brilliant, informative, tailored to meet what the kids were doing, exploring in class. The writers workshop was also great, kids got a lot out of it and are enthusiastic to write and have their work shared with others. Really enjoyable.
At our Literature Event, Taryn talked to our Year 7 students about the importance of reading and gave many tips on creative writing. She was well organised, and we had a lovely day. In the last session’s question time, the final question asked by a teacher was not to Taryn but to the students. What were they taking away from the presentation? It was wonderful that the students’ answers were many and varied. Student feedback during the day included: She was really good, and I learnt so much. [...]
We were delighted to host author and illustrator Katherine Battersby as part of our Book Week celebrations. Katherine delivered engaging and dynamic presentations to students from Prep through to Year 6, bringing her stories to life and captivating every audience. The students were especially drawn to her Cranky Chicken series, laughing along as they explored the quirky characters and storylines. One of the highlights was Katherine’s interactive illustration session, where students shared their [...]
We appreciated Maria's presentation because the children, and the teachers, not only found her engaging and inspiring, but it was refreshing to gain an author's perspective of non-fiction writing.
It was great to be able to contact Speakers Ink who could then recommend presenters to meet the needs of our school. Nothing was a hassle & booking speakers was seamless.
“We thoroughly enjoyed the workshop! Tiff’s use of props and visuals to connect with the themes in her beautiful book was very engaging and stimulating for our students. The students and I loved learning about Wonder Earth with Tiff”
Pamela's visit was very well received by our girls. The PowerPoint presentations and worksheets she used to accompany her workshops with our year 8 and 10 girls were engaging and useful for the girls when thinking about how to successfully structure a story. I would thoroughly recommend Pamela for an author visit to other schools, particularly all girls' schools as many of her novels deal with females as the main protagonists.
As part of our Literacy Day celebrations, we had a very special visit from author and illustrator duo, Haydn and Damien Crespan. The Crespan brothers shared their writing process, the detail behind each illustration and how they’ve overcome challenges such as a colourblind illustrator! We were truly captivated by their debut children’s book, ‘The Adventures of Triz’. Not to mention, their dinosaur display and the REAL fossils they brought for us to explore.
Caz Goodwin’s author presentation at Carey Baptist Grammar School was brilliant. The children loved meeting a life-sized Daisy and we laughed at the antics of Daisy in the ‘Daisy Runs Wild’ theatre show. Caz shared plenty of authors’ tips to inspire young readers and writers, and answered the children’s questions about writing and ideas for stories. She gave children opportunities to engage with craft, language and writing, and non-fiction research on koalas. The children loved the Daisy stories [...]
I was so incredibly thrilled to have you there! A little secret – you were an absolute favourite, both with me and the kids!! Thank you so much! I was doing some work with them after the sessions, and they were using your techniques! Amazing! If I can keep it going for a few years, I will definitely have you back!
Belinda’s presentation style was very suitable for our students. She connected well with all year levels and understood how to engage them. I was very impressed with her style personable and very approachable for students. I would welcome Belinda again to speak to our students.