
Marc McBride is the illustrator of the New York Times best-selling series Deltora Quest, which has sold over eighteen million copies around the world and has become an Anime TV show.
Marc has illustrated more than two hundred book covers including the Dragon Games series by Maddy Mara. He has illustrated ten picture books including The Glimme written by Emily Rodda (Honour Book in the 2020 CBCA awards), The Song of Lewis Carmichael (2021), The House on Pleasant Street (2022), The Glow (2023) and A Friend for Ruby (2023), all written by Sofie Laguna, and published by Allen and Unwin.
Marc has had work exhibited with the New York Society of Illustrators International Show and has won Aurealis Awards for the Deltora Quest series and World of Monsters, which he wrote and illustrated.
During the presentation Marc will talk about the relationship between pictures and words in a book. He will explain colour theory, light, shape, line and texture- the five elements of visual language as he paints a character from one of his books getting ideas from the audience.
Focusing on creativity and imagination, using simple shapes, Marc encourages the students to draw with him and to ‘not be afraid of making mistakes’- after-all it is often a mistake in a drawing that becomes the inspiration for something truly original!
Every student will create their own artwork and the school gets to keep the finished painting.
Testimonials
The Song of Lewis Carmichael
The House on Pleasant Street
The Glow
Rowan of Rin: The Journey (30th Anniversary Edition)
A Friend for Ruby
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Choose Your Own Adventure!
To tie in with the 2025 Book Week theme, ‘Book an Adventure’, Dave Lowe has adapted his popular ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ workshop, as a ‘presentation’-style 45- / 60-minute session for large groups of students, from Years 3 to 8. In this fun, highly-interactive session, Dave will share insights into ideas-generation and plotting, and give each student a story template, as well as all the tips and tricks they’ll need to make their own short ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’-style book that they can take home and try out on friends and family.
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
---|---|---|---|
Gold Coast / Brisbane | 14 Jul - 24 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 23 Jul - 25 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 28 Jul - 01 Aug 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 01 Aug - 09 Sep 2025 | ||
Brisbane / Gold Coast | 04 Aug - 08 Aug 2025 |
What people are saying
“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”
James was a huge hit with our students and his sessions sold out - up to 800 students in our biggest venue. He had the kids enthralled and was such a pleasure to work with too. He is very easy going and positive.
Brett Lee was very professional and did a great job presenting. The audience got a lot out of the presentation and have also requested for Brett Lee to present to the students.
Astred Hicks has recently delivered a guest lecture to a group of students in the Master of Publishing program, for the second year in the row. Her expertise, passion, and ability to engage and inspire the students were truly remarkable. Her love for books and design was contagious, which created a positive and inspiring atmosphere in the classroom. Astred encouraged students to embrace creativity, think outside the box, and push the boundaries of traditional book cover design and illustration. [...]
Thank you for recommending Kyle for this year’s Literature Festival Day. It was a huge success and we have had wonderful feedback from students and teachers.
I am highly recommending you to anyone who will listen. Everyone has had nothing but positive comments to make about your visit, staff and students alike. Cristy was an amazing presenter. It is rare that we have an incursion and children of all ages are equally engaged. She was hilarious, informative and vibrant. The students couldn't get enough, and were talking about it for the rest of the day. I would recommend her to any school.
Tony's personal connection to the specific audience is an absolute talent. By listening to the specific questions asked by different year levels the groups each had a very different and unique presentation. His ability to draw and make connections to his works is pure talent.
Book Week 2012 was a great success here at St Augustine's. Kim Toft was wonderful again!!! Thank you Helen once again for helping me with great author choices.
Pip was Fantastic. She easily adapted to the different groups. Children were really comfortable with her.
David Hallett challenged many of our students' personal views of poetry and politics. His performances allowed students to appreciate the malleability of poetry, highlighting the fact it is far more than words on a page.
We will book through Speakers Ink again as we have for many years now, you are the best company to book through in my opinion. We look forward to booking through you again for next year.