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
Welome to Term 2
Hope that everyone has had a relaxing break.
If you haven't already secured your booking for Book Week, please get in touch - we still have availability for some wonderful speakers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Perth | 05 May - 15 May 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 16 May - 16 May 2025 | ||
Singapore | 19 May - 21 May 2025 | ||
Melbourne | 25 Jun - 27 Jun 2025 | ||
Newcastle | 01 Jul - 02 Jul 2025 |
What people are saying
I wanted to let you know about the success of the Writers’ block event, at Robina branch library and auditorium last Saturday. It was such a good day and the feedback we received on the speakers was overwhelmingly positive. Frances was very engaging, great to work with, and pitched her presentation perfectly for the event. She made it so easy for City Libraries to look good. Thanks for your assistance in finding excellent speakers to make this event so successful.
Speakers Ink makes it easy for me to locate and engage quality authors for our Book Week program
Sue exceeded expectations. She was brilliant and received great feedback from our participants. Thank you for your service. It is great to work with such an organised team.
Charlotte Barkla’s ability to connect with the students at our Festival was wonderful. Through her storytelling and hands-on experiments, Charlotte ignited the students’ curiosity in both literature and science. Her ability to seamlessly blend these two disciplines created an immersive and educational experience that left a lasting impression.
Tracey and Lisa were great. They certainly met expectations and I would not hesitate to recommend them to others.
Louise was a wonderful hit with the kids. Open and engaging, her sessions were a great success. She was very giving of herself, her adventures as a writer and publisher, and the stories she has shaped with such creative imagination. Children from Kindergarten through to Year 6 were delighted to bring her stories to life through sound effects, dress ups, and re-enactments. A passionate advocate for children’s literacy, Louise was the perfect ambassador for our Book Week celebrations.
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. [...]
Our recent visit from Richard Newsome went really well. Students were engaged during the presentation and were able to apply information to their own work. Staff felt that the presentation was relevant and engaging. I would definitely recommend Richard to other schools. I found it very easy and straightforward to book with Speakers Ink and would book with you again.
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.
Zachary Ashford tailored his presentation to a diverse and large cohort of students. His sessions were interactive, engaging and entertaining. Zach sought feedback constantly and communicated effectively throughout our visit. Would definately recommend!
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!
Darren was very friendly to staff and students. He was more than willing to give extra time to speak to the students in a one on one environment. He was very engaging and got lots of audience participation with a game. Would definitely use Dave again as a speaker at our college.