By Kerrie Le Lievre
From 23 to 25 July this year, IPEd and Editors SA hosted the 12th biannual IPEd Conference at the University of Adelaide’s North Terrace campus – our first in-person conference since 2019. It was wonderful to have the chance to get reacquainted with so many old friends and meet so many new ones in 3 dimensions at last after years of Facebook and Zoom!
The theme for this conference was “Editors as changemakers”, and the 3 days of the conference certainly showcased the many ways in which IPEd’s members both create change in the field and constructively shape our own and others’ responses to new developments and emerging technologies. Some highlights of the event included the workshops presented by Dr Rhonda Daniels AE, Malini Devadas, Dr Terri Janke, Cathy Nicholl AE, Dr Renée Otmar DE and the Accreditation Board. Other notable sessions were Dr Eugen Bacon’s powerful and much-referenced keynote speech on editing, diversity and the power editors have to help shape cultural narratives, and Roly Sussex OAM in conversation with Kerry Davies AE exploring language, technology and the future of editing. Pink Shorts Press’s presentation on the hows and whys of starting up a publishing house in the current landscape and the role of editors in-house was fascinating. And Friday’s uproarious Hyperthetical and the interactive IPEd plenary presented by Melanie Dankel AE and Justine Dixon Cooper AE both raised thoughtful questions about the future of IPEd as an institution and the editing profession as a whole. Of the many wonderful panels and presentations across the Thursday and Friday, I particularly enjoyed Susan Keogh DE’s presentation on communicating with authors, Freya Howarth’s session on the importance of fact-checking in today’s uncertain media landscape and Sathsara Radaliyagoda’s presentation of her PhD research into AI and romance novel editing. And then of course there was Fiction Distilling’s gorgeous display and gin tastings held in the Napier Building foyer!
As president of Editors SA, I’d like to thank our presenters for coming all the way to Adelaide in the depths of winter to share their work and insights (and I’m very sorry about the weather on the Friday!), as well as our amazing team of volunteers and the Conference Committee members, without whom none of this would have been possible. Special thanks also to:
- Aunty Rosalind Coleman for her powerful and generous Welcome to Country
- Writers SA, Renée Johnstone and Deb Coleman-George for their help in bringing together the members of our panel on sensitivity reading
- the Australian Publishers Association and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers for sponsoring individual presentations
- our conference sponsors – Brand South Australia, Business Events Adelaide, the Copyright Agency and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Government of South Australia.
I hope everyone who attended the conference had as good a time as I did – and that you enjoyed the Haigh’s!