REPORT TO ATLANTIC TWIG MEMBERS • SEPTEMBER 2021
We hope everyone had a wonderful summer. After our own hiatus we’re back on track with planned events and online presentations for our members.
A warm welcome to our new members Claire Bennet and Amber Tucker in Halifax, Steven Watt in St. John’s, and Margaret MacQuarrie in Dartmouth. We’ll miss our former co-chair Becky Skillin, who relocated to Jordan in June.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
We have lined up Alan Sheppard, production editor at Goose Lane Editions in Fredericton, to give us a Zoom presentation on Wednesday September 29, 8:00 pm Atlantic time, 8:30 pm NL time. Alan will be explaining what he looks for when hiring a freelance editor. Email us for the Zoom link if you want to attend.
In October, we are hoping to have a presentation by Deirdre Greene-Lono on her work with the Oxford English Dictionary. Stay tuned for more info on that.
Editors Canada has scheduled a webinar for October 19—Introducing The Chicago Manual of Style for PerfectIt! This is one not to be missed.
Jenny Higgins, who was recently the Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Centre for Newfoundland Studies at Memorial University, will give us a presentation on writing and editing entries on that online encyclopedia. November 17, 6:30 pm Atlantic time, 7:00 pm NL time.
TWIG NEWS
Congratulations to Claire Wilkshire of St. John’s, whose second book, a collection of short fiction called The Love Olympics, is due for release October 10.
We’ve polled our members to see what support there is for dropping our local websites and being folded entirely into the new and improved Editors Canada website, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, OR for maintaining our own new and improved website, separate from but linked to the national site. So far there is strong support for creating our own Editors Atlantic website, which will continue to feature the popular Find an Editor page with free listings for members. We do have the financial capacity to do this, as well as a small team of wonderful volunteers willing to steer the project.
And speaking of volunteers, we’re also looking for a new twig co-chair to work with Molly Rookwood and Sandy Newton. Drop us a line at atlantic@editors.ca if you’re up for the gig. It would be ideal to have a co-chair who’s in PEI or New Brunswick.
SOCIAL EVENTS
The very resilient Wolfville Editors’ Bunch has managed to continue to meet online and in person throughout the pandemic. Following their lead, the Halifax contingent of the twig has planned a social event for Tuesday, October 5, 5:00–6:00 pm, at the Lion’s Head Tavern rooftop deck—fingers crossed for good weather and no drastic Covid restrictions. We encourage members from other areas to organize in-person get-togethers of their own and are happy to help with Doodle polls and outreach if needed.
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We’ll be looking ahead to the winter sessions soon, so let us know your thoughts and any ideas for events and presentations. Shoot us an email with announcements to share at atlantic@editors.ca. Keep an eye on your email (be sure to check your spam folder) and on our Facebook page, Editors Atlantic, for announcements regarding lunches, meetings, presentations, and other goings-on.
Engage in conversation with other editors on the Facebook pages Editors’ Association of Earth and Business + Professional Development for Editors, as well as Editors/Réviseurs Canada and Editors Canada Student Affiliates. Keep in the loop on the latest national news by subscribing to The Editors’ Weekly, Editors Canada’s official blog.