Kerry Davies AE
[Photo credit: Brodie Cullen]
Profile: Kerry Davies AE
In this issue of Gatherings, we profile Kerry Davies AE, Pay Rates Working Party (PRWP) Chair.
When and why did you join IPEd?
I joined the Society of Editors (Queensland) and its training subcommittee in 1995, when I returned to my home town of Brisbane from Broome, where I had spent the previous five years working with Magabala Books.
I’d worked with Jan Whelan DE, inaugural President of the society in 1990, in the late 1970s and early 1980s at Jacaranda Wiley. We’d often discussed the need for a Qld professional body back then and during my visits to Brisbane from Darwin or Broome over the previous 12 years – we’ve remained really good friends. So it was a no-brainer to join.
I moved to Sydney in 1996 and joined the Society of Editors (NSW), then back to Brisbane and SocEds (Qld) in 2004. I was a fairly non-participating member, apart from delivering presentations and workshops on operating a freelance business, until 2010, when I became President and rejuvenated the society, which was close to winding up. There was a massive amount of work to do but we brought a new committee together and did it.
What is your current and past involvement with IPEd?
I became the Qld Councillor for IPEd in 2013, and briefly its Deputy Chair and then Treasurer, before becoming Chair in 2015, when the transition to a direct membership model for IPEd was being hotly debated. It was a turbulent time for the Council, with lots of work required of all the councillors and working groups to analyse how it would operate, including many rounds of consultation with members and society committees. The final vote, by early 2016, was overwhelmingly positive from all but the Canberra Society of Editors, which remains, unfortunately, separate from IPEd.
That wasn’t the end of it, of course. It was possibly when the real work began, hiring staff, moving the membership across to the new system, wrangling finances, setting up committees and so on. I am still on three committees – PRWP, SCAP (Standing Committee for Awards and Prizes), and the new Standing Committee on Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Style, and the IPEd Standards Working Party – and I’m still (since 2016) Budget Officer for EdsQ.
What does IPEd mean to you?
It has pretty much been my life for the past decade or so. I’ve always been passionate about professionalism and ethics, and I firmly believe in the profession looking after its own, the strength of advocacy and the value of providing professional development.
Why are you prepared to volunteer your own time to IPEd?
I guess it’s in my genes. My dad was president of his professional body – the (then) Pastrycooks Association of Queensland – when I was growing up. He was a highly professional and ethical small-business owner. I must admit, though, since stepping down from the Board last year, I am enjoying being able to put more time into my own work. Not much downtime yet though.
What is your current job?
I run my own business, Kerry Davies Publishing Services — have done for most of my working life.
What does your role entail?
Editing, assessing, proofing, doing accounts, chasing work, chasing payments – just like any other freelancer.
Some background on your career path — what led you to editing?
I graduated with a Communication degree from the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT, now the Queensland University of Technology) in 1976 and had co-edited the QIT newspaper Unit (the first woman to have done so).
My first job was Media and Publications Officer for the Queensland Conservation Council, where I edited my first book, The Future of Moreton Island, including laying it out on the printer’s shop floor.
I joined Jacaranda Wiley in 1978 as a promotions officer, putting together Wiley’s tertiary catalogues, and immersed myself in conversations at the boardroom drinks sessions, which happened daily in that era. You learn so much by listening and engaging. As I headed off overseas (for the obligatory year in the UK and Europe) the Senior Editor (Jan) told me to let her know if I ever wanted to move into editorial.
Coming back to Australia I immediately fell into the job as Managing Editor of Time Off, a new entertainment and arts newspaper in Brisbane, where I worked for a couple of years – loved it! In early 1982 I contacted Jan about the potential for editorial work and was put on as an in-house freelancer (the hourly pay rate was about $14). I also worked freelance for University of Qld Press and others. I moved to Darwin in late 1983, working as a freelance editor and journalist – there weren’t many books to edit in Darwin back then – before spotting the ad for Manager of Magabala. That job was mine! The past 25 years have largely been as a freelancer in Sydney and Brisbane, with a couple of stints in-house.
If you were not an editor, what would you do?
I’d probably have kept up journalism, but working with books is my first love. I might have written more (I used to write a lot of performance poetry and stories) and I do have the beginnings of a memoir in a drawer somewhere – I’ll get back to it someday.
What do you do in your spare time?
Sorry … spare what?
What’s your favourite holiday destination? Why?
Close to home, Stradbroke Island. It’s where I can really forget everything else, walk around the headland, bask in the sun, watch whales.
Describe your family members:
My son Brodie lives with me and, since COVID, we now share an office (he’s 36) – we’re still working on the protocols. My partner Ron lives a couple of blocks up the road (suits us both fine). My sister Robyn lives in the townhouse next door and family celebrations with her and her kids and grandkids are always fun (read chaotic). Mum’s now in a nursing home, safe, reasonably happy.
Do you have any pets?
Sadly, our beloved dog KD died last July at age 16. She was my office buddy, often at my feet under the desk (her cave).
Who do you admire most and why?
The late, great Janet Mackenzie – her wit, her wisdom. We always had a great time at conferences.
What would you never give up?
Freedom!
What are your favourite books/movies?
I don’t have favourites – they might get jealous.
What’s something very few people know about you?
Shhh … no, I really am pretty much an open book.
Your scariest moment?
Telling my boss at a publishing house I was quitting and exactly why – sick and tired of having budgets and schedules cut and being hauled over the coals for not meeting them. Actually, that was liberating (still scary though).
What else would you like to share with your fellow IPEd members?
Keep on pushing for the profession.