IPEd announces Rosie award winner
IPEd has announced Johannes Jakob is the winner of its Rosie award for his work on Kyle Perry’s novel The Bluffs.
The Rosanne Fitzgibbon Editorial Award, known as the Rosie, recognises excellence in editing, as demonstrated in one published work.
Johannes’ work on debut writer Kyle’s novel The Bluffs, from suggesting the book’s title to cutting 20,000 extraneous words, helped transform a raw manuscript into a commercially successful work of crime fiction for Penguin Random House (PRH).
The judges said: ‘Johannes’ careful work on the text went beyond a simple copyedit or a refinement of the manuscript. His interventions led to a more accomplished narrative and helped to develop the author’s skills and confidence as a writer.’
IPEd patron Roly Sussex, announcing the winner at an IPEd awards night, said the publisher’s detailed and thoughtful letter of recommendation emphasised how much care and respect Johannes displayed for Kyle’s work at every stage of the editing process.
‘The author/editor relationship is a crucial part of the Rosie award, and the author’s letter outlines the strong rapport he developed with Johannes,’ Roly said.
Johannes receives a cash prize of $4000 and a certificate, a copy of which is also provided to the author and the publisher.
Johannes said the award was a huge honour and he enjoyed working with Perry, who was ‘high energy in the best way’.
‘I was able to feed off that and his dedication to his craft made it a fun and easy process.
‘The editor’s task is to try to go unnoticed, so I happily and rapidly retreat to the shadows but thank you so much,’ Johannes told the awards night.
Clive Hebard, PRH managing editor, said IPEd’s support and recognition of editors in Australia and New Zealand contributed much to the value of the publishing industry. ‘The Rosie award rightly recognises the value of an editor’s respect for the work and the importance of trust between editor and author.’
He said Johannes was ‘a creative, devoted and assiduous editor’ and The Bluffs would not have been ‘such a literary and commercial success without the solid, attentive and honest relationship’ Johannes developed with Kyle.
The other shortlisted editor was Linda Nix AE for her work on Australian Law in Context by Ciprian Radavoi and Stephen Norris, published by Lexis Nexis.
The judges were impressed with the quality of this year’s entries and made special mention of Jessica Perini’s developmental work with author Leon Silver on The Miracle Typist before the book’s acquisition by Simon & Schuster.
The judges said all editors nominated for the 2021 Rosie demonstrated a commitment and dedication to their craft. The shortlisted collaborations displayed an outstanding editorial capability in supporting the writer to create the best publishing outcomes.
The Rosie honours the editorial contribution of Rosanne Fitzgibbon DE (1947–2012), whose professional life was spent chiefly in editing fiction titles at University of Queensland Press (UQP). She was the inaugural winner of the Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship in 1992, which took her to publishing houses in New York, subsequently benefiting every author she worked with. Rosie was known and loved for her passionate commitment to her authors, often over several titles.
Roly said the Rosie assesses skills such as diplomacy, attention to detail, problem solving, professionalism and ethics, all of which assist the author and publisher to create the nominated work. Nominated editors are supported in the nomination by the author and publisher of the work, and the judges also assess editorial skills through the quality of the published work.
The judges this year were Craig Munro, Julia Carlomagno and Scharlaine Cairns. Roly introduced them all at the awards night.
Craig Munro worked for the University of Queensland Press for 30 years, initially as fiction editor, and then as publishing manager. He won the Barbara Ramsden award for 1985 for his work with novelist Peter Carey. He was a judge of the Miles Franklin award for four years and is the author of Undercover: adventures in the art of editing (2015) and Literary Lion Tamers: book editors who made publishing history (2021).
Julia Carlomagno is an Associate Publisher and Managing Editor at Black Inc, where she has the good fortune to work with some of the country’s best writers. She has also edited books at Scribe, Penguin, MacMillan and Inside publications. Julia is the recipient of two editing awards, the Rosie in 2019 and the Barbara Ramsden with Craig Munro as author in 2015.
Scharlaine Cairns has been a professional editor for 38 years and a full-time freelance editor for 35 years. Her company, Charlie C Editorial Pty Ltd, was established in 1989. With a breadth of experience, including project management and all aspects of editing across a variety of genres, Scharlaine is perhaps best known for editing educational titles.
