Member news (2019)

Member news is a regular website feature designed to tell the world about our members' outstanding and wide-ranging skills and talents.

December 2019

Editors Toronto member Greg Ioannou was recently interviewed for CBC's "The Sunday Edition." He joined Patti Tasko of The Canadian Press to discuss the state of editing in Canada today. Listen to the interview, which aired on Sunday, November 24.

Editors Nova Scotia member and PEI resident Virginia McGowan has won a Finalist Award in the 2019 Best Book Awards Competition for her book Harness the Power of Mentoring: How to Find and Work with the Right Mentor--A Guide for the Solopreneur.

Editors Toronto member Michelle Waitzman is pleased to announce the publication of Providing Sound Foundations for Cryptography: On The Work of Shafi Goldwasser and Silvio Micali. Michelle wrote two biographical chapters for this book, the first in a series on winners of the AM Turing Award (the highest honour in computer science), being published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Michelle has also written biographies for upcoming books in the series about Tim Berners-Lee (the creator of the World Wide Web), Stephen Cook (a pioneer of computational complexity) and Leslie Valiant (the researcher who defined machine learning).

November 2019

Editors Toronto member Damian Tarnopolsky's play The Defence has won first prize in the 2019 Herman Voaden National Playwriting Competition. Damian received the $15,000 award and his script underwent a professional three-day workshop at the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen's University, followed by a public staged reading at the 2019 Kingston WritersFest.

Editors Nova Scotia member Ginny McGowan, PhD, is a recipient of the 2019 WISE 50 Over 50 Award.

Ginny was also instrumental in the development of a nine-month pilot project to engage Prince Edward Island youth with barriers to employment in the era of climate change. The program, which includes a mentoring component, received funding from the federal government and was launched on Monday, October 21.

October 2019

Earlier this year, Editors Ottawa-Gatineau member Gael Spivak connected the International Plain Language Federation's Standards Committee with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO committee that works on standards related to language is called the ISO Technical Committee 37: Language and Terminology. After she attended an ISO/TC 37 meeting in Ottawa, both committees requested that Gael join them to help further their work. The technical committee recently voted to approve work starting on an ISO standard for plain language. The expected publication date of the standard is October 2022.

September 2019

Editors Nova Scotia member and PEI resident Virginia (Ginny) McGowan PhD was recently appointed to a federal expert panel to advise on the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. She has also been invited to present a series of three webinars in collaboration with the International Mentoring Association (IMA) in the IMA Professional Learning Webinar Series.

The webinars are based on her award-winning book Harness the Power of Mentoring: How to Find and Work with the Right Mentor--A Guide for the Solopreneur (April 2019).

The webinars are free for IMA members. IMA membership information and webinar registration links are found on the IMA website.

July 2019

Editors British Columbia member Iva Cheung successfully defended her thesis on Tuesday, July 2. Her research, done within Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health Sciences, was about helping involuntary patients better understand their rights under British Columbia's Mental Health Act. She invited people who had experienced involuntary hospitalization to co-create and then user test a new suite of plain language rights-communication tools. The tools are freely available at bcmentalhealthrights.ca.

Editors Toronto member Diya Lim is the author of La marchande, la sorcière, la lune et moi, winner of the 2019 Trillium Book Award for Children's Literature (French). Learn more about Diya's book and the other 2019 Trillium Award winners.

Editors Nova Scotia member Virginia McGowan's book Harness the Power of Mentoring: How to Find and Work with the Right Mentor--A Guide for the Solopreneur is a finalist in the Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business category of the 2019 International Book Awards. The book is a practical, step-by-step guide for the solopreneur in how to prepare for a mentorship, find the right mentor and develop a healthy, effective mentoring relationship. It is available online globally in print and eBook formats. Japanese and Portuguese translations are in progress.

June 2019

Editors Toronto member Diya Lim is the author of La marchande, la sorcière, la lune et moi, a finalist for the 2019 Trillium Book Award for Children's Literature.

Editors Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph member Carolyn R. Wilker has released another book titled Piece by Piece: A Narrative from Home, published by Angel Hope Press in Drayton, Ontario. In Piece by Piece, Carolyn (who is also an editor and storyteller) writes about the world around her, to bring hope and of course to share stories. She launched her book in her home town of Tavistock, Ontario, the community that was her family's business and church centre. Visit Carolyn's website to learn more.

Editors Edmonton member Talena Winters recently published The Undine's Tear, the first book in her Rise of the Grigori trilogy. In this young adult science fantasy, join merfolk, sphinxes, dragons and humans as their lives become entwined on the search for the true meaning of redemption. Visit Talena's website for more information.

May 2019

Tim Green, an Editors Edmonton member who represents a significant portion of the Editors Canada members in Yukon, has started a podcast series as an outlet for his writing. "On the Marge" is a series of short stories narrated by the members of a family who run the fictional Walnut Crescent Bed and Breakfast in Whitehorse. The parents, their precocious six-year-old daughter, and their golden retriever take turns telling about quirky (quirky, by Outside standards) situations that make life in Yukon so interesting.

 "On the Marge" is available on Tim's website or through iTunes.

If there are other Editors Canada members interested in creating or editing podcasts, Tim would be glad to help get them started. You can contact him through the website above.

April 2019

Editors British Columbia member Karen Autio is delighted to announce the publication by Crwth Press of her narrative non-fiction picture book, Growing Up in Wild Horse Canyon, illustrated by Loraine Kemp.

In a hidden canyon in British Columbia's Southern Interior, a ponderosa pine tree sprouts. Seasons pass as the tree grows, witness to generations of human history in the Okanagan Valley, from First Nations quests to fur brigades, horse wrangling, secret wartime commando training, to the firestorm of 2003. Richly illuminated by maps, illustrations and historical images, and informed by a timeline and historical notes, this fascinating book weaves First Nations history with European settlement and natural history. By following the thread of one tree growing in one sheltered and sacred space, this book gently explores patterns of colonization that will resonate with readers all over North America.

For more information, visit Karen's website.

On Monday, March 4, Writing Tips Oasis featured the top 17 book editors in Ontario. All who made this list are members of Editors Canada!
  
Sigrid Macdonald, Editors Ottawa–Gatineau
Claudia Forgas, Editors Toronto
Joanne Haskins, Editors Toronto
Heather Camlot, Editors Toronto
Tom Moss Gamblin, Editors Toronto
Lori-Ann Livingston, Editors Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph
Sylvia McConnell, Editors Toronto
Freya Godard, Editors Toronto
Susan Hughes, Editors Toronto
Sara Promislow, Editors Toronto
Jennifer Dawn Foster, Editors Toronto
Kristy Hankewitz, Editors Toronto
Julie Stauffer, Editors Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph
Sherry Hinman, Editors Toronto
Kristine Thornley, Editors Toronto
Marcel Chiera, Editors Toronto
Michelle Parker, Editors Ottawa–Gatineau

"This piece seemed to come out of the blue. It was a pleasant surprise and a great boost," said Editors Toronto member Joanne Haskins.

To view the complete post visit Writing Tips Oasis.

Do you have an achievement you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you! Send your news to the member news coordinator. Each news item will be posted once on the website and once in Editors Canada's e-news update.