Success as an editor depends on effective communication, says scholarship recipient
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, May 27, 2015—Andrea Hatley of Thompson, Manitoba, will be presented with the 2014 Claudette Upton Scholarship at the annual Editors’ Association of Canada (EAC) awards banquet in Toronto on Saturday, June 13, 2015. This scholarship is a $1,000 cash award intended to support continuing professional development in editing.
Becoming an editor is a mid-life career change for Hatley. She worked as a commercial helicopter pilot in the Northwest Territories before spending 13 years living “mostly off the grid” as she describes it. “A career in editing,” she says, “will allow me to use all my varied experiences and education, both formal and informal, in a unified capacity.”
Hatley is enrolled in the Ryerson Publishing Program, where she has successfully completed a number of courses so far. She sees a career in freelance editing as an interesting way to make a living while still maintaining some of the flexibility and freedom of her former life. For Hatley, another plus in working as an editor is the opportunity to engage with a wide range of subject matter.
In her essay, Hatley says, “…any successes or failures I have experienced in life were ultimately the result of how well I communicated what I knew, what I thought and sometimes what I feared. My success as an editor will be no different.”
Through extensive involvement in her northern Manitoba community, Hatley has observed that the outcomes of most endeavours depend heavily on the abilities of key people to suggest, explain, champion or engage. She believes strongly that the same principle will apply in her future work as an editor since she will need to establish positive relationships with authors, members of an editing team, designers, printers, publishers and anyone else involved in producing a document.
This year’s selection committee for the Claudette Upton Scholarship consisted of three respected Canadian editors: Daniel Polowin, an editor for Lexis Practice AdvisorSM Canada and last year’s recipient of the Claudette Upton Scholarship; Sue Martin, a copy editor, mainly of academic books about German culture and literature; and Anita Jenkins, a retired editor and writer who is an honorary life member of EAC.
The Claudette Upton Scholarship is an annual national award that recognizes a promising emerging editor from among the EAC’s student affiliates. The award is named in memory of Claudette Reed Upton-Keeley, a gifted editor who loved the English language and was actively involved in social justice and environmental causes throughout her life. She is remembered for her wonderful sense of humour and her sharp mind.
– 30 –
About the Editors’ Association of Canada
Additional information about the Claudette Upton Scholarship is available on the EAC website.
The Editors’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne des réviseurs began in 1979 as the Freelance Editors’ Association of Canada to promote and maintain high standards of editing. EAC is the voice of editors in Canada, with 1,500 members and affiliates, both salaried and freelance, who work in the corporate, technical, government, not-for-profit and publishing sectors. EAC’s professional development programs and services include professional certification, an annual conference, seminars, guidelines for fair pay and working conditions, and networking with other associations. EAC has six regional branches: British Columbia; Prairie Provinces (currently on hiatus); Saskatchewan; Toronto; National Capital Region; and Quebec/Atlantic Canada, as well as smaller branches (called twigs) in Calgary, Alberta; Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph, Ontario; Hamilton/Halton, Ontario; Kingston, Ontario; Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Media Contact
Michelle Ou
Communications Manager
Editors’ Association of Canada
Association canadienne des réviseurs
416 975-1379 / 1 866 226-3348
communications@editors.ca