Twig Talk

Editors Atlantic Monthly Report to Members

Twig Talk – June 2022

by | Jun 19, 2022 |

TWIG NEWS

  • We’re pleased to welcome our newest member, Jenna Nelson, who lives in Ellsworth, Maine.
  • CONGRATULATIONS to Twig member Claire Wilkshire of St. John’s, NL, who has been nominated for an Atlantic Book Award for her collection of stories The Love Olympics. She is one of three finalists for the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction.
Finalist for the Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction
Claire Wilkshire Answers the Atlantic Book Awards’ Nominee Proust Questionnaire
  • CONGRATULATIONS to Twig member Fazeela Jiwa on having been shortlisted for the 2022 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence: “The Tom Fairley Award is presented annually by Editors Canada to an exceptional editor who played an important role in the success of a project completed in English or French.”
Congratulations to Fazeela Jiwa. Two images: headshot of Fazeela Jiwa and cover of the book Spin Doctors that she edited.
Finalist for the 2022 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence

Fazeela Jiwa (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Nora Loreto
(Fernwood Publishing)

Many books were written and edited under the difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, but Fazeela Jiwa navigated an extra set of challenges with her work on Spin Doctors precisely because it was about an unfolding situation. This meant that the text was developed, shaped and honed while neither author nor editor knew how, if or when the pandemic would end.

She helped the author define and adhere to a strong structural framework while broadening the book’s scope and detail in ways that would amplify its messages. With meticulous attention to matters of tense and timing, she ensured the author could both position her book as a “moment in time” and make it broadly pertinent, accessible and relevant.

Jiwa’s passion for and knowledge about many of the underplayed social implications of the pandemic, her unwavering commitment to both high-level editorial matters and a myriad of specific details, and her persistent but ultra-positive pressure on the author to support her arguments and broaden her scope—all within extremely tight timelines—beautifully demonstrate a key role of the editor: to serve as a true ally to the author while ensuring the book produced is the best it can be.

Sandy: “…it was a long two days! On the other hand, learning about editing tools and experiences, hearing other editors talk about their work, being pushed to think about sensitivities and approaches to being a more conscious editor—especially since I work on my own—are invaluable.” Plus, she learned about a great function with PDFs and InDesign that saves time and avoids inputting errors during the proofing/updating pages process. Here’s an explanatory YouTube video.

Claire: “I’d been dreading spending two consecutive seven-plus-hour days at the computer on a weekend, but on balance I think it was worth it. My useful fact…is that you can open a new window in Word of the document you are working on. …Go View—> New Window, and you…can be on different pages of the same doc at the same time.” 

  • Many thanks to Claire and Sandy. Others who attended the conference are invited to also contribute their takeaways.
  • We recently had a scam alert from one of our members. The fraudster claimed to have obtained the member’s contact info through the Editors Canada website, offered her a job, and eventually asked for her bank account details to deposit a cheque so she could purchase the required equipment. All to say: be skeptical of similar offers and requests for information.

National News

  • All members are called to attend the Editors Canada annual general meeting (AGM). The purpose of the meeting is to conduct the annual business of the association. It will be held via Zoom on Saturday, June 18 at 4:30 pm Atlantic time, 5:00 pm Newfoundland time.

Professional development

  • Fredericton, NB, twig member Shelley Egan recently gave us a refresher on punctuation. If you missed her May 11 Zoom presentation, you can access the recording (enter passcode MyV8*EmV); Shelley has also offered to share her exercise sheet and answer key and her resource list–email her.
  • On Wednesday, June 8, Halifax graphic designer Peggy Issenman will be presenting on the designer-editor relationship. Peggy’s many years of experience include book design for McGill-Queen’s University Press. If you’re interested in attending, RSVP to atlantic@editors.ca for the link.
  • Has anyone achieved certification, received professional recognition, or published a book? Shoot us an email with announcements to share. We want to hear from you.
  • Keep an eye on your email (be sure to check your spam folder) and on our Facebook page for announcements regarding lunches, meetings, presentations, and other goings-on.