Update from the President
Can you believe we’re nearing the end of 2020 already? By the time you read this, we’ll have had our last event for the year and our committee will join all of you in the madness of the pre-holiday rush.
As we move into summer, rest assured that the committee is still working hard at organising a full calendar of events and looking for ways to advocate for our industry and improve our visibility in the WA literary and business community.
This past month, Kiara Cramer has stepped up to the role of Editors WA Communications Coordinator and is working to update our social media and pull together content for Gatherings. If you have anything you’d like to see included in the newsletter, shared across our social media, or a news story you think we should cover, I encourage you to get in contact with Kiara at edwa.news@iped-editors.org.
Next year we hope to reinstate bimonthly member meetings as an opportunity to learn from our many experienced members. The meetings are planned to be presented in a hybrid format, allowing you to join us in person if you are feeling a little Zoomed out, but still reaching members in regional WA, Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the world. If you are interested in presenting at one of these sessions, or have a topic you’d like us to cover, please contact me at edwa.president@iped-editors.org.
In the meantime, I wish you all a happy and safe festive season and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Best wishes,
Jess Gately
President Editors WA
Crash course in grammar a hit for emerging and experienced editors alike
by Ingrid Waltham
A beautiful sunny spring afternoon didn’t deter 18 keen editors and grammar lovers from heading indoors to embrace an afternoon of intensive grammar. The workshop, held by Editors WA at the North Fremantle Community Centre on 22 November, was led by IPEd honorary life member James Hansen DE. James is a writer and teacher and has a wealth of knowledge about the intricacies of the English language. He impressed on those attending the idea that a knowledge of traditional English grammar is the foundation of our work. Participants were taken on a page-by-page journey through his Square 1 grammar course, passing through parsing, sentence structure, word function, punctuation and more. It covered a lot of ground and, from the feedback, was equally valuable to those starting out in their editing, writing or teaching careers, and to experienced editors who appreciated the refresher. We thank James for his time, and look forward to repeating the workshop during 2021.
Following the workshop was a round table discussion with accredited editors and several candidates who were sitting the accreditation exam on 5 December. This relaxed and informal chat allowed the AEs to share their experiences, while the candidates shared their nerves. Questions were answered and anxieties (temporarily) relieved. A huge thank you to those AEs who stayed back and offered their time — Michèle Drouart, Josephine Smith, Kerry Coyle and Margaret McNally.