October 2026 Editors Victoria

President’s report

By Kylie Howard

How is it October already? It feels like the year is moving along in time-lapse mode – Editors Victoria and IPEd have certainly had an action-packed month. 

Amid the action I’ve been finding time to read a 1930 first edition of John Galsworthy’s On Forsyte ’change. There’s something comforting – when the world seems a bit fast – about the easy pace of the narrative and the tangible feel and smell of a book that’s nearly 100 years old. 

It was great to see familiar and new faces at our social get-together in early September. Everyone was keen to linger and chat. It provided a much-needed break from the solitude of the desk for me! 

On 17 September, Dr Alicia Leigh presented her workshop on trauma-informed editing. Alicia spoke about editing with empathy and gave practical tools to handle trauma-themed work. The topic provoked much thoughtful conversation. 

Our next “Ask an editor” session for students and early-career editors will be held online on 16 October 2026. We’ll be joined by 2 experienced editors who will answer your questions about editing pathways. Keep an eye out for updates. 

On 30 October 2026, we’ll be joined by Booker Prize–winning author and translator Deepa Bhasthi. At this speaker event, Deepa will talk to Inclusion and Access Advisor Thirangie Jayatilake about translating across languages and cultures. You can book a spot here. 

And … drum roll … put 10 December in your calendars for our end-of-year celebration. More details will follow – our new events officer, Sarah Lemcke, is busy organising something fun. Numbers will be strictly limited, so when the invitation comes out, be quick! 

We are now recruiting our 2026–27 student adviser. This is a great opportunity for current students to play a constructive role in IPEd and Editors Victoria by representing the interests of students in Victoria. If you’d like to apply or know someone who might, email me (edvic.president@iped-editors.org) or Carol Goudie AE (edvic.secretary@iped-editors.org) for more information. 

On that note, we are sad to be saying goodbye to our outgoing student adviser, Duncan Hale. He has made a significant contribution to Editors Victoria. We wish Duncan all the best for his final exams – after which we might be able to lure him back to the committee to sit in another capacity. 

We are looking for additional subcommittee members for professional development, events and communications. If you think you might be interested in serving on the subcommittee, contact me or Carol Goudie AE for more information.  

To get in touch with any questions or comments about what’s happening with Editors Victoria, send me an email. I’d love to hear from you! 

Save the date! 

Big things are happening behind the scenes in preparation for our end-of-year dinner. So, while you’re eagerly awaiting the details, pop Thursday 10 December at 7 pm into your diary – you won’t want to miss this! 

Trauma-informed editing workshop 

Editors often work with material that deals with trauma, whether in fiction, memoir and life writing, or nonfiction texts, including reports on challenging subjects. On 17 September, Dr Alicia Leigh delivered a sold-out workshop on trauma-informed editing, to help editors manage such work and, critically, ensure self-care. Alicia is a trauma and genre theorist and the author of The trauma-informed writer: crafting authentic trauma in genre fiction (Ginninderra Press, 2025). She holds a PhD and postgraduate qualifications in counselling and psychology, and has written more than 20 novels. 

The workshop was developed following Alicia’s very popular presentation from November last year, “Editing first aid: a trauma-informed approach to words, writers and wounds”. 

The workshop focused on how to edit difficult material with empathy and accuracy. It gave participants practical tools, including an invaluable checklist, for handling trauma-themed work and for considering their own wellbeing. 

The workshop attendance and positive feedback show that there is strong demand among members for professional development in this area. If you missed out and would like to attend a future session, please let the Editors Victoria committee know. If there is enough interest, we will look at running the workshop again. 

How are editors voting? And we’re not talking politics! 

How people are voting in ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books has been interesting to watch. Do you stick to nostalgia reads from childhood or school days, the “classics”, fiction or nonfiction, books from across the subject spectrum or only one genre? Perhaps you vote for books you’ve edited!  

I grappled with all these choices while formulating my top 30 then made some hard choices before deciding on my final 10. In the end I’d settled on including only fiction and my votes covered young adult and adult reads. They were: 

• Sister heart by Sally Morgan 
• The F team by Rawah Arja 
• People of the book by Geraldine Brooks 
• Burial rites by Hannah Kent 
• Tiger daughter by Rebecca Lim 
• Chai time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran 
• After story by Larissa Behrendt 
• A language of limbs by Dylin Hardcastle 
• This is how we change the ending by Vikki Wakefield 
• The rules of backyard cricket by Jock Serong