Booked Out Speakers Agency

Michael Hyde

Author, Curriculum Specialist, Journalist, Social Commentator

Michael’s novels for young adults, Hey Joe, MAX and Tyger Tyger have experienced critical success and continue to be widely read and taught in many schools. Hey Joe – about the Vietnam War, the movement against it and the sixties in Australia – was named as a Notable Book in the 2004 CBC Awards. Many of his short stories for younger readers are published in the Trend/Awesome Series including the popular titles: The Footy Coach from Hell, Seal Saves the Island and How I Got a Girlfriend. Michael also edited two senior anthologies for the Australian Association of English Teachers (AATE), Hunger (CBC Notable Book 2004) and The Girl who Married a Fly (CBC Notable Book 2002). Both anthologies feature popular YA Australian writers (including Michael) and like his novels, enjoy significant sales. Michael’s Change the Game series – choose-your-own-adventure sports books became overnight favourites with young readers, 20,000 + copies being sold in one year.

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Benjamin Law

Author, Corporate, Journalist, Social Commentator, Speaking Out, Wellbeing

Benjamin Law is a Sydney-based journalist, columnist and screenwriter. He is the author of two books: the black comedy memoir The Family Law (2010) and the travelogue Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East (2012). The Family Law has been translated into French and is currently being developed for television. Gaysia was published in India in 2013, with the US and other territories to follow in 2014. Both of his books were nominated for Australian Book Industry Awards, and he is currently working on his third.

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Andrew Rule

Author, Corporate, Journalist, Social Commentator, Speaking Out

Since starting on a country newspaper in 1975, Andrew Rule has worked on three metropolitan newspapers and in both radio and television production. He has written, co-written, edited and published many books, including the Underbelly true crime series and the Chopper series, which inspired the successful feature film. He hosts a regular fortnightly spot on Triple M’s Hot Breakfast called In The Rule World.

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Sonia Orchard

Author, Education Consultant, Inspirational Speaker, Journalist, Personal Development/Welfare, Social Issues, Victim/Survivor Advocate, Wellbeing

Sonia is a writer, teacher, advocate, speaker and festival founder and director who believes in the power of storytelling to inspire, create belonging and connection, and effect positive change in the world.

Her writing and work is driven by her passions for social justice, the environment and child and teenage wellbeing. Most recently, since the publication of her memoir “Groomed”, she has become a strong advocate for CSA and SA survivors, campaigning for justice reform, and the rights of children, teenagers and victim survivors.

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Ben Pobjie

Author, Journalist, Social Commentator

Ben Pobjie is the author of the Reality Recap of Australian History Error Australis and Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. He is the resident satirist for Medium and TV writer for the Saturday Age, he co-hosts the comedy podcast Gather Around Me, and is a regular voice on ABC radio,Triple R and 3CR as well as writing occasionally for TV.

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Angela Pippos

Author, Corporate, Inspirational Speaker, Journalist, Social Commentator, Speaking Out

Angela Pippos is a journalist, TV and radio presenter, columnist and author of The Goddess Advantage – One Year in the Life of a Football Worshipper. It’s as much about love, loyalty, stuffed tomatoes and Greek mythology as it is about Australian rules football.

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Sally Warhaft

Author, Corporate, Journalist, Speaking Out

Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer and the host of the Wheeler Centre’s live journalism series, The Fifth Estate, now in its third year. She is a former editor of The Monthly magazine and the author of the bestselling book Well May We Say: The Speeches that Made Australia. Sally is a regular host and commentator on ABC radio and has a PhD in anthropology. She did her fieldwork in Mumbai, India, living by the seashore with the local fishing community.

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Gabrielle Tozer

Author, Journalist

Gabrielle Tozer is an award-winning author based in regional New South Wales. Her latest works include The Unexpected Mess of it All, which won the 2025 ACT Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, beloved picture book Before We Met (illustrated by the award-winning Sophie Beer) and Can’t Say it Went to Plan.

Over the years, Gabrielle has received honours including the State Library of Victoria’s Gold Inky Award for her debut YA novel, The Intern, and appeared on the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Notable List for Older Readers for Remind Me How This Ends.

Gabrielle loves sharing her passion for creativity with readers and aspiring writers, and has worked as a mentor for the Regional Arts Network’s Horizon program, Regional Arts Australia’s Regional Scribes program and the ABC’s Heywire initiative.

Gabrielle is currently working on four new books for HarperCollins.

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Jenna Guillaume

Author, Inspirational Speaker, Journalist, Social Commentator, Wellbeing

Jenna Guillaume is a lively and engaging author and journalist with a passion for empowering young people – and having a lot of fun along the way. She loves to talk about things like body image, social media and online toxicity, the intersection of feminism and pop culture, digital media, mental health and self-love.

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Speaker Type: Journalist