Monthly meetings

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January 18, 2017: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Blue Pencil

What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 7:00 pm (program begins at 7:30 pm)
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors Canada members, $10 for non-members, and $5 for students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

Since 2015, Editors BC has partnered with the Vancouver Public Library to offer Blue Pencil consults, in which volunteer editors meet briefly with writers to offer feedback on writing samples. A Blue Pencil session is a valuable experience for editor and writer alike, but it can also be intimidating to those unfamiliar with the process or unsure about how to approach it. A panel of experienced Blue Pencil editors will share their experience, offer tips, and help demystify this unique opportunity to engage with authors one-on-one and develop your editing skills while providing a valuable service to the local writing community.

Part of a calendar is shown with one pin lying on top of it, another pin stuck in the 26th of an unknown month, and a blue circle around the 24th.
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November 16, 2016: The Art of Editing Poetry: A Conversation with Shazia Hafiz Ramji

What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, November 16, 2016, 7:00 pm (program begins at 7:30 pm)
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for Editors Canada members, $10 for non-members, and $5 for students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

All editors must consider the needs of the writer, the reader, and the publisher or client when working on material, but this can be a particularly delicate balancing act for the poetry editor. What is considered? How does the editor navigate issues of poetic licence or the idiosyncratic use of writing mechanics? What are the desirable characteristics of a poetry editor, and what is happening in this publishing sector? Join us for a stimulating conversation about these and other topics as Talonbooks poetry editor and poet Shazia Hafiz Ramji speaks to moderator Lana Okerlund.

Shazia Hafiz Ramji is the poetry editor at Talonbooks and an interviews editor at Canadian Women in the Literary Arts, and she co-edited the “Intersections” issue of Poetry Is Dead magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for the 2016 National Magazine Awards and is forthcoming in The Capilano Review and the “Augmented Reality” special issue of Letters to the Editors. Shazia’s chapbook of poetry will be published by Anstruther Press in 2017, and her first book of poems will be out with Talonbooks in 2018.

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Join the Editors BC Executive Team!

We’re looking for an Editors BC member to take on the role of programs chair. The programs chair plans and hosts Editors BC’s general meetings (eight per year, from September to November and from January to May), with support from other executive members. Volunteering is a rewarding experience and a great way to get involved with Editors BC!

Here’s what past programs chair Frances Peck had to say about her experience in this role:

It’s an excellent low-pressure way to meet authors, publishing people, and other language professionals, especially valuable for anyone who doesn’t network easily. I also really liked having a direct say in the topics presented each month. Thinking up new and interesting subjects and presenters was a creative exercise that I truly enjoyed.

And here are a few comments from Iva Cheung, who served on the programs committee:

We made things easy for ourselves early on by creating templates for introductory and follow-up emails to speakers, meeting agendas, consent forms, and the like. We put in place a lot of this kind of infrastructure that we hoped would make the job easier for our successors.

The committee met over coffee at the end of each summer to brainstorm possible topics and speakers, and we never had a problem coming up with ideas—the Lower Mainland is brimming with talent and people doing and discovering interesting things.

If you think this volunteer opportunity might be right for you, please contact branch chair Marianne Grier at bcchair@editors.ca.

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Call for Presenters: An Evening of Show and Tell

Have you recently completed a project that you found particularly noteworthy or challenging?

Share your experience with fellow editors!

Editors BC is hosting An Evening of Show and Tell at our February 17, 2016, meeting, and we’re looking for people to participate. Contribute to an exciting conversation about the many aspects of working as an editor by sharing a little bit about one of your projects. Big or small, dull or quirky—we want to hear about it!

If you’re interested in participating, please contact bcprograms@editors.ca.

Part of a calendar is shown with one pin lying on top of it, another pin stuck in the 26th of an unknown month, and a blue circle around the 24th.
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September 16, 2015: Welcome Back Wine and Cheese

What: Editors BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, September 16, 2015, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free!

Getting to know each other better
Come on out to get to know your Editors Canada/Editors BC colleagues better! We’re all editors, but our backgrounds are diverse. Did you know that we have published authors, engineers, trained historians, and world travellers among us? Come ready to share your stories, and enjoy wine and snacks as we kick off our 2015–16 season.

Special season-opener: Members, non-members, and students all attend free of charge.

Bonus! Enter the draw at the meeting for free admission to one of Editors BC’s professional development seminars.

No editors’ pub night
Because of the wine and cheese social, there will be no pub night before the September meeting. The Elephant & Castle gatherings will start up again in October.

Image by Shutterstock

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Event Review: Transcription, Captioning, and Subtitling: An Introduction for Editors

Written by Amy Haagsma; copy edited by Karen Barry

Recap of EAC-BC’s branch meeting on April 15, 2015.

Last month, Kelly Maxwell spoke to EAC members and guests about the fascinating world of transcription, captioning, and subtitling. Kelly is co-owner and co-founder of Vancouver-based Line 21 Media Services, which provides services to the television and film industry. Line 21 works primarily with post-production coordinators, who shepherd television shows and movies through editing, colour correction, and distribution.

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Event Review: Writers on Editors: An Evening of Eavesdropping

Written by Amy Haagsma; copy edited by Meagan Kus

Recap of EAC-BC’s branch meeting on March 18, 2015.

On March 18, EAC-BC hosted authors Margo Bates and Daniel Francis for a panel discussion about working with editors. Jenny Lee, a writer, editor, and digital journalist with the Vancouver Sun, moderated, adding details of her own experience and encouraging questions from the audience.

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May 20, 2015: Year-End Wine and Cheese—and Elections!

What: EAC-BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Members and non-members attend free, but must check in at the door.

Our 2014–15 season is drawing to a close, and it’s time to celebrate summer! Join us for wine, Murchie’s Editors’ Blend tea, snacks, and good conversation with fellow editors.

We’ll also be choosing our new executive council for the 2015–16 season. If you’re looking to get more involved with EAC, consider joining the executive. Positions are open to all members regardless of experience or length of membership. Please contact Peter Moskos at bcpastchair@editors.ca if you’re interested.

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Part of a calendar is shown with one pin lying on top of it, another pin stuck in the 26th of an unknown month, and a blue circle around the 24th.
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April 15, 2015: Transcription, Captioning, and Subtitling: An Introduction for Editors

What: EAC-BC monthly meeting
When: Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 7:00–9:00 pm
Where: Welch Room, 4th floor, YWCA Health + Fitness Centre, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: Free for EAC members; $10 for non-members; $5 for students with valid ID. Registration at the door.

Transcription, captioning, and subtitling are challenging and interesting areas of work for editors, from both process and service-delivery perspectives. To do this work, an editor needs responsive thinking skills, a full editor’s toolkit, and the ability to break down a job into its constituent parts…and then to recombine the parts to best represent how the text is performed. Please bring your questions!

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Event Review: Language Detectives: Part II

Written by Stephanie Warner; copy edited by Meagan Kus

Recap of EAC-BC’s branch meeting on February 18, 2015.

I’m a fan of British murder mysteries and police procedurals, so it was a thrill for me to attend a talk by Dr. Lorna Fadden, a real-life language detective. Dr. Fadden is an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, where she teaches introductory linguistics courses. She also researches in the following areas:

  • Canadian varieties of English and how language manifests online
  • discourse analysis (specifically, police interviews and internet luring)

Her website and SFU profile give detailed information on her research.

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