From the committee
by Paul Anderson and Dr Robert Rowe
The EdNSW branch committee met on 13 April for its monthly meeting, via Zoom, with four apologies.
Reports received included the branch’s financial report for February 2021, budget commentary and membership. The financial position of the branch remains sound and the 2021–22 branch budget is being prepared. The Director’s update and Accreditation Board delegate’s report were also received.
Dr Linda Nix AE was reappointed as branch Accreditation Board (AB) delegate for a further period of two years. Linda, also the current AB Chair, has done an incredible job in this role and the committee thanked her for this significant contribution over the past four years.
We have decided the branch will aim to host about six professional development-related speaker meetings a year. The committee believes this will offer members a good balance and leave calendar space for our other branch meetings and events, such as the Annual Branch Meeting (ABM), social dinners and trivia night.
Feedback was reviewed from a survey of members’ ideas for presentation topics. Editing romance is at least one we will try to develop. Please contact Caroline Hunter at ednsw.meetings@iped-editors.org with your suggestions.
Our inaugural, online trivia night was on 6 April. And it was ‘all right on the night’. Our next Zoom speaker meeting is on 4 May. Patricia Hoyle will present on plain English.
We look forward to seeing branch members getting together with the committee at our upcoming social evening (drinks) in Sydney in May, and at editors’ lunches in months ahead. Please contact Susie Pilkington at ednsw.admin@iped-editors.org for more information.
It is now May and our ABM is not far off. All committee positions will be declared vacant, as is automatic each year. Please consider taking on a role on the committee, which meets online. This is an opportunity for you to share your knowledge, experience and skills. We may also create one or two new committee positions to support the branch’s changing needs, such as support for Zoom activities. Look out for details of the roles to fill when we send out calls for nominations in coming months.
For current information about the committee, click here.
EdNSW’s old website is now closed
The old EdNSW website has officially met its end. Keep up to date with all the news and information about the NSW branch on the IPEd website.
Welcome to new members
by Kaaren Sutcliffe AE
Professional: Nicole Thomas; Deborah Fleming; Elizabeth Beach; Gina Dow.
Associate: Craig Munro; Emily Henkel; Tiffany Buissink; Rebecca Sutherland; Kendra O’Neill; Stachlee Schmitt; Hadeel Al-Alosi; Nicole Wilson; Helen Ting; Bana Kamila; Phillipa Smith.
Student: Mark McCabe.
Corporate: National Museum of Australia.
Apologies if we have missed anyone while the Member Liaison Officer was away.
Events
Member meetings
Member meetings will continue to be held via Zoom.
Members are urged to check their email for the latest information on any event.
Book via the IPEd events webpage.
Plain English
Date: Tuesday 4 May 2021
Time: 6.45pm for 7pm AEST
Location: online via Zoom
Book here.
Details: At this insightful talk, discover how to adapt your skills to become a plain English writer and editor in this rapidly growing field. Patricia Hoyle, owner of Sydney-based Concise Writing Consultancy, will talk about how she worked her way up from legal secretary to create her successful writing consultancy. Operating for 27 years, Concise Writing Consultancy provides plain English writing, editing and training services to the corporate sector and all levels of government.
Presenter: Patricia Hoyle, Director, Concise Writing Consultancy.
Specialising in plain English, Patricia has written and edited a wide range of government and corporate documents in the past 30 years. These include annual reports, technical reports, fact sheets, policies and procedures, brochures, newsletters, articles and websites.
Patricia has been a freelance non-fiction editor for ABC Books, Sally Milner Publishing and NCELTR Publishing (Macquarie University). Through her customised and highly interactive workshops, she has helped thousands of managers and staff at all levels develop their writing skills and gain a better grasp of English grammar.
Pragmatism overrides ethics? Editing for clients in Dutch academia
Date: Tuesday 1 June 2021
Time: 6.45pm for 7pm AEST
Location: online via Zoom
Details: English is used widely in higher education in the Netherlands. For example, Master’s students and PhD candidates are generally expected to write their theses in English — under the supervision of their Dutch professors, who themselves are expected to be internationally visible, so must publish in English. Among those meeting the resulting demand for editing services for students and academics in the Netherlands are members of SENSE (the Society of English-language professionals in the Netherlands). The talk will include an explanation of the context in which freelance editors for clients in Dutch academia work, mentioning SENSE’s Guidelines for proofreading student texts and justifying the caveat about not applying them to editing PhD theses. The talk will also aim to reveal some of the issues associated with the ethics of academic editing in a non-anglophone country.
Presenter: Dr Joy Burrough-Boenisch from Unclogged English (based in the Netherlands).
Originally a geographer, Dr Burrough-Boenisch learnt to edit in Borneo and Australia before moving to the Netherlands and freelancing as an authors’ editor for Dutch academics and scientists. A founder member and past chair of SENSE, during her long career she has taught scientific and academic English to graduate students at Dutch universities and given workshops or webinars on editing non-native English for language professionals in European countries and the European Commission. Her interest in second-language interference and non-native English resulted in her PhD thesis on Dutch scientific English. She is the author of Righting English That’s Gone Dutch and has scholarly and professional publications on editing and non-native English to her name.
Mid-year dinner
Date: One evening in July 2021
Details: Keep an eye on your emails as we investigate a suitable date and venue to get together.
Editors’ lunches … drinks
After gathering on 21 April in Surry Hills, the next lunch will be in June at Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River.
Planning is in progress for another drinks night, probably in May, in the Sydney CBD.
Watch your email for details of these and other networking gatherings.