Member news (2012)

December 2012

Elizabeth McLachlan, Prairie Provinces branch, has had her book Herbert Has Lots for a Buck, published by NeWest Press. The book describes 12 small Prairie towns that have lost population but are finding ways to renew themselves.

October 2012

Toronto branch member Carolyn Bishop is pleased to announce the release of her book Meaningless Platter Dudes: Language Transformed on a Platter of Fun, published by Iguana Books. Described as a joyous exploration of fun with language, this book of puns is a must read for those who enjoy a light-hearted and intelligent play on words.

Francine Cloutier, QAC branch, defended her thesis, La rédaction-révision : une activité de communication guidée par le principe communicatif de pertinence, at Université Laval on October 7. Francine's goals were to clarify and better structure the knowledge needed to practice and teach editing, to remove misperceptions about the field, to show that it is a valid subject of scientific research, and to lay the groundwork for further research in this area.

Toronto branch member Sharon A. Crawford reports that her debut collection of mystery short stories, Beyond the Tripping Point, published by Blue Denim Press, comes out in October 2012. The book will be launched on November 4 in Toronto. For more information, visit www.bluedenimpress.com, the author's blog or Facebook.

Joan Dixon, Prairie Provinces branch, has co-edited (with Barb Howard) a book of essays and reflections by 14 writers. Entitled Embedded on the Home Front: Where Military and Civilian Lives Converge, this Heritage House book was launched on September 27 at the Military Museum in Calgary.

Dr. Peter J. Roccia, Prairie Provinces branch, recently delivered academic papers in Russia and Japan. His topic at the 2012 Global Studies Conference in Moscow was about the dynamics of transferring a comic book originally in left-to-right English to right-to-left Arabic.

July 2012

Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself: The Workbook, written by Candace Plattor and edited by BC branch member Arlene Prunkl, has just been named the recipient of two 2012 International Book Awards: Winner in the Health: Addiction & Recovery category and Finalist in the Self-Help: Relationships category. Candace Plattor's first book, Loving an Addict, Loving Yourself: The Top 10 Survival Tips for Loving Someone with an Addiction, also edited by Arlene Prunkl, was the winner or finalist for seven book awards: Winner in the Health: Psychology/Mental Health category, finalist in four additional categories in the 2010 International Book Awards and finalist in two categories in the USA Book News Awards.

June 2012

Prairie Provinces branch member Astrid Blodgett will have her story "Ice Break" included in this year's The Journey Prize Stories. For more than 20 years The Journey Prize Stories, published by McClelland & Stewart, has been one of the most prestigious anthologies in the country. One of the 12 writers featured this year will receive the $10,000 Journey Prize, the most significant monetary award given in Canada for a short story or excerpt from a fiction work-in-progress.

Cynthia Dusseault (Prairie Provinces branch) has received the Professional Writers Association of Canada's Larry Jackson Award, which is the equivalent of Editors Canada's Lee D'Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.

Toronto branch member Diya Lim is the winner of the Prix littéraire Henriette-Major 2011, a literary award for unpublished writers organized by Dominique et compagnie (a children's book publisher in Quebec). Diya's first book is due to be published in fall 2012, as an illustrated chapter book. Furthermore, Diya has recently signed a contract with Les Éditions L'Interligne (a publisher in Ontario) for another children's novel containing two fantasy stories. This second book is due to be published in spring 2013.

Rosemary Shipton, Toronto branch, received a glowing acknowledgement from Richard Gwyn for her editing of his book Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life. Our Times (Random House Canada, 2011). This book won two awards and was shortlisted for two others. Wins: the 2012 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize ($10,000), given annually to the best book on Canada, Canadians and/or Canada's place in the world, and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for the best political writing published in 2011 (worth $25,000). Shortlists: the Writers' Trust Prize for nonfiction and the Governor General's Award for nonfiction. Rosemary notes as well that the first volume of this biography, published in 2007, won the $25,000 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction. "So," she says, "Richard and I seem to make a good pair!"

May 2012

BC branch member Darcy Cullen is celebrating the release of her new book, Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text, which brings together leading scholars and experienced professionals from the field of academic editing. Featured editors include Rosemary Shipton, Camilla Blakeley, Darcy Cullen and Amy Einsohn. The paperback will be available June 1 from www.utppublishing.com/Editors-Scholars-and-the-Social-Text.html.

Voyages: To the New World and Beyond, a gorgeous coffee-table book on the history of sailing ships, written and illustrated by Gordon Miller and edited by BC branch members John Eerkes-Medrano and Ruth Wilson, has won the John Lyman Book Award in the category of naval and maritime reference works. Voyages was published by Douglas & McIntyre and the University of Washington Press in 2011. The award is granted annually by the North American Society for Oceanic History.

NCR branch member Gillian Scobie is pleased to announce that Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government, a book she stylistically edited and copy edited, has won the 14^th annual Donner Prize. Written by Peter Aucoin, Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull, the book explores how Canada's time-honoured system of responsible government is failing us. The Donner Prize honours excellence and innovation in Canadian public policy thinking, writing and research.

March 2012

Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe, written by Charlotte Gill and edited by BC branch member Nancy Flight, has won the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction among other awards. In addition, Nancy's role as Associate Publisher of Greystone Books has just been expanded to Associate Publisher, D&M (both Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books).

February 2012

QAC branch member Maryann Hayatian has opened a publishing company called Flower Press. She invites Editors Canada members to submit their manuscripts along with a query letter including details (i.e., title, subject, synopsis and number of pages) to info@flowerpress.ca. For more information, go to www.flowerpress.ca.

Toronto branch member Dawn Hunter has received a 2012 USBBY Outstanding International Books Award for her contribution to Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan (Annick Press). Written by Rafal Gerszak with Dawn Hunter, the book features stunning photos of an Afghanistan we rarely see. The USBBY Outstanding International Books List is published each year by the United States Board on Books for Young People.

Congratulations to Deborah Lawson, Prairie Provinces branch member, who recently signed a contract with Frontenac House, a Calgary-based literary press, for the publication of her first book of poetry titled Voice Lessons. The book will be published in 2013 as one of four volumes in Frontenac's highly regarded Quartet series. Frontenac, which won the Alberta Publisher of the Year award in 2006, is particularly known for giving special attention to developing new and previously unpublished writers.

Dr. Peter J. Roccia, Prairie Provinces branch member, is presenting two academic papers this spring: one at a communications conference in Lille, France, and another at the Canadian Communication Association's Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Waterloo, Ontario. Peter is a full-time continuing faculty member at MacEwan University in Edmonton.

January 2012

Gilles Vilasco (QAC branch) edited the manuscript for a book that will be published by Presses de l'Université du Québec under the title Le Québec APRÈS Bouchard-Taylor – L'identité religieuse de l'immigration. The book, which will be in stores February 15, was published under the direction of Louis Rousseau, Professor of Religious Studies at UQAM. Rousseau also wrote the introduction and conclusion. The book contains eight chapters written by teachers and researchers Mathieu Boisvert, Frederic Castel, Anne Letourneau, Jean-Rene Milot, Louis Rousseau and Raymonde Venditti.