Visiting authors and illustrators bring much more than just great stories to your school, library or event. They bring a priceless connection between the creator and their readership that inspires and nurtures literacy and writing skills. For audiences of all ages they may also educate, challenge, motivate and entertain.
Speakers Ink strives to promote communication, literacy and confidence and to inspire creative endeavours by engaging audiences with quality literary presenters.
We are a literary speakers' agency of excellence, committed to providing a quality service with professional guidance, support and management for all speaking engagements. We focus on improving all aspects of literacy and in providing opportunities, inspiration, motivation and practical help. We work diligently with every visit organised by Speakers Ink to ensure the best possible outcome.
Speakers Ink can arrange the perfect speaker for your next educational or motivational event. Feel free to browse this site to explore what the Speakers Ink Speakers have to offer!
Sandie Fraser – Director
Sandie is a former bookkeeper/office manager with over 30 years of experience.
She has worked closely with the Founder of Speakers Ink, Helen Bain, for more than 3 years, delivering Speakers Ink's services in Queensland and around Australia. In late 2015, Sandie was thrilled to take on the Director's role.
Sandie has the background and commitment to maintain the high level of customer service for which Speakers Ink is very well known.
Our clients within the schools, festivals, libraries, councils and events wish to find the right speaker for their particular needs and to be sure of fabulous outcomes.
Our Speakers are also our Clients - for whom we are committed to securing bookings - not only locally, but nationally and internationally, to enable the broadest sharing of their important messages.
Sandie is focussed on ensuring Speakers Ink provides these services efficiently and reliably for all concerned.
Our ultimate clients are our Speakers' audiences, and as a base for all else, Sandie is committed to improving literacy in our society through the activities of Speakers Ink. To support this, Speakers Ink holds memberships of societies and strong partnerships with UQ Press, UQ Cyberschool, the State Library of Brisbane, local Councils and many bookshops, with the ongoing support of the Founder, Helen Bain.
Helen Bain - Founder
Helen started her career as a Teacher/Librarian and from there gained experience working as part of Speaker’s agencies around Australia. With this background, Helen built Speakers Ink to provide much needed services ensuring that the key needs of client organisations and Speakers were built into the way the company operates.Under her leadership, Speakers Ink has grown with continual positive feedback received from customers and the broader Industry on the services delivered and the style of communication with all people involved.Helen is recognized and trusted by well over a thousand Client organisations and Speakers around Australia and also globally. She is firmly committed to improving literacy and has active memberships of:
- The Australian Society of Authors
- Book Links (QLD)
- The Brisbane Writers Festival
- The Children’s Book Council of Australia (committee member)
- The English Teachers Association of Queensland
- The School Library Association of Queensland
- SCBWI - Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators.
- The Queensland Writer’s Centre
Helen is now working fewer hours, but is still active behind the scenes assisting with the running of Speakers Ink.
Please feel free to contact SPEAKERS INK with any enquiries or booking requirements throughout the year.
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Welcome to Term 2
If you haven't already done so, now is the time to book your speakers for Book Week next term.
Please get in touch and we will be happy to provide recommendations for your school.
You can use the contact form, or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
---|---|---|---|
Brisbane | 14 May - 17 May 2024 | ||
Rockhampton | 11 Jun - 20 Jun 2024 | ||
Brisbane | 08 Jul - 10 Jul 2024 | ||
Brisbane | 11 Jul - 12 Jul 2024 | ||
Brisbane | 18 Jul - 19 Jul 2024 |
What people are saying
Tony was a great hit with the students (at the Primary Taster Day) and they really enjoyed his workshops.
Thank you for yesterday - it was a wonderfully fun and informative hour. Kate was really great and seemed to have a real connection with the students.
Here at Porirua Libraries, we love Fifi Colston’s work, and it has been our pleasure to host her to showcase both her books and her crafting skills. Fifi is a talented, energetic, inclusive, personable presenter. Ngā tamariki love working with her, and so do we.
We have never had a presentation that was so successfully received by our students, our teachers and our families in the wider community. The presentations were excellent, entertaining, thought-provoking and informative – a real quality experience for all participants.
Megan captivated her audience as she shared valuable insights into her writing process. Megan inspired our students to share their thoughts, ideas and feelings through writing. She made her books come alive as she used excerpts to highlight her ideas. Our students (and teachers) loved her session.
Deb was a very engaging speaker and performer. The children really enjoyed the visit and have been madly borrowing her books. Deb pitched her talk to each year level and managed to have everyone laughing and learning at their level - including the teachers.
I asked for recommendations of presenters in my area and received a detailed and informative response that reflected how well Speakers Ink know their presenters.
This was Jane’s second book week with us and more than met our expectations. We really enjoyed her presentation.
Candice was a pleasure to work with. She had the children engaged with their writing and they all had a wonderful time working with her. Candice was well-prepared and interacted in a beautiful way with both the teachers and students. We would certainly be happy to book her again in future years.
Can you envision over 2,000 students from across Australia participating in a collaborative Zoom workshop, where they spontaneously rise and applaud after a poetry performance? Inspired and motivated, these students don't just write; they eagerly share and perform their own poetry, delving into the depths of their emotions and life experiences. Joel models the process, making it accessible for students to adopt and make their own. They're so engrossed in their writing that they don't want to put [...]
Her presentation was both humorous and informative and Yvonne was flexible in her delivery and accommodated for timetable changes. I highly recommend Yvonne to any school wishing to have an author visit.
Shannon visited my year 8 focused literacy class. Her presentation was very well organised, relevant and extremely interesting. Shannon discussed the steps she went through to write and publish her book "Was Not Me". This was closely linked to the theory behind story structures. Students had an opportunity to see early drafting notes and discuss the drafting, illustrating and publishing processes. All of this was presented in a manner that suited my class perfectly and there were lots of o [...]