President’s report
by Margaret Trudgeon AE
I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather (when it’s not raining!) and a bit of downtime now that we have a few more long weekends. I managed a week away in the Victorian Alps recently and even got to do a day of downhill skiing, which was a minor miracle as I discovered it’s 12 years since I last skied! Somehow I managed to stay upright and even found myself enjoying whizzing down those slopes.
This is a busy time of year for the committee as our new members settle in and we get the ball rolling with plans for events and workshops. Our first event is on 14 October when Liam Pieper, an ABIA-winning ghostwriter of global bestsellers, will present an online talk on the art of ghostwriting. Bookings are open now.
In a slightly different vein, we will be hosting a table at the RMIT Odyssey Literary Festival on 24 October. This is a student-run, day-long festival, held at the Capitol Theatre, and we are looking forward to talking to students as we promote the benefits of IPEd membership. It will coincide with a special IPEd promotion where students can join for 12 months and receive 15 months of membership.
On 30 October we will host another online “Ask an editor” student cuppa, where 3 panellists will answer burning questions on editing from current students. Bookings will open soon.
Our new professional development officer is in the throes of organising an online workshop by Nadine Davidoff, on editing point of view in narrative fiction and nonfiction. It will be held over 2 sessions on 5 and 12 November. Then on 13 November Alicia Leigh, author of The trauma-informed writer: crafting authentic trauma in genre fiction, will present a talk on editing in this sensitive area. Bookings for both events will open soon.
Finally, we are also busy planning our end-of-year in-person event. This year it will be held on Wednesday 26 November at the Gertrude Hotel in Fitzroy. We are finalising our speaker at the moment, but please keep the date clear. We’ll be announcing the speaker in next month’s report.
In between all that I’ve been trying to fit in a networking lunch, and it’s looking like Friday 7 November is the day. It will be at the Arcadia cafe in Fitzroy (Gertrude Street). We look forward to seeing some of you there! Bookings will open soon.
If you missed the ABM’s special interview with Andy Griffiths and Jill Griffiths, the recording is available for purchase. Andy and Jill shared some great insights into how they’ve created such successful children’s books for so long.
Welcome to our new Editors Victoria members for September:
Professional member
- Sarah Lemcke
Associate members
- Jacqueline Green
- Shanthi Malpress
Student and Graduate members
- Vicki Mccracken
- Lauren Switzer
IPEd at Castlemaine
Editors Victoria recently participated in the Art, Books, Castlemaine event. IPEd Chair and Editors Victoria Director Stephanie Holt AE looked after the IPEd stall at a fun day, with writery-arty folk selling various creations (poetry, zines, handmade papers, handbound books and so on) and readings being held across the day.