Event audio: Editing Books in Translation

Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s February 20, 2013, presentation, Editing Books in Translation? Listen to the audio recording.

Couldn’t attend EAC-BC’s February 20, 2013, presentation, Editing Books in Translation? The presentation, given by Iva Cheung, winner of the 2011 Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence, covered big-picture issues—such as copyright and the all-important editor–translator relationship—as well as the nuts and bolts of working with a translated manuscript. Iva also gave audience members an insider’s look into the pleasures and pitfalls of editing books in translation and tips for finding work in the field.

Listen to audio recording (EAC log-in identity and password required).

Top

Copy editors take to the streets?

Yikes! Have stressed-out copy editors turned to violence?

The copy editor’s lot is not an easy one. The work is exacting, even stressful. But is the work so stressful that editors have taken to the streets to settle their differences—over style guides, open compounds, and serial commas—once and for all?

Not yet.

Except, of course, in the strange and wondrous minds of The Onion satirists in the article “4 Copy Editors Killed in Ongoing AP Style, Chicago Manual Gang Violence” (January 7, 2013).

Here’s an excerpt:

“‘At this time we have reason to believe the killings were gang-related and carried out by adherents of both the AP and Chicago styles, part of a vicious, bloody feud to establish control over the grammar and usage guidelines governing American English,’ said FBI spokesman Paul Holstein, showing reporters graffiti tags in which the word ‘anti-social’ had been corrected to read ‘antisocial.’”

Read the complete article.

Photo, “Montreal riot police at play,” by scottmontreal. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Top

EVENT LISTINGS: June 2013

Do you have an event planned (or know of one) that you’d like to appear in these listings? Send us the details.

June 7–9, 2013: EAC Conference 2013: Between the Lines

EAC Conference 2013 logoPlan to attend EAC Conference 2013 in Halifax, Nova Scotia? Good news: registration is now open. Even better news: register by April 12, 2013, and you could save up to $235.

This year, conference will feature sessions built around five themes: arts and sciences; business and government; career building; language and culture; and techniques and technologies. Four pre-conference workshops are also being planned.

Note: as EAC Conference 2013 is a joint event, held with the Indexing Society of Canada (ISC), EAC member rates will be extended to members of both associations. EAC member rates will also be extended to members of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA) and the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS).

Register for conference
Top

Conference location

The Lord Nelson overlooks the Halifax Citadel. It is within walking distance of pubs, cafés, restaurants, jazz clubs, cinemas, and theatres. Photo courtesy of The Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites.

The Lord Nelson overlooks the Halifax Citadel. It is within walking distance of pubs, cafés, restaurants, jazz clubs, cinemas, and theatres. Photo courtesy of The Lord Nelson.

The Lord Nelson is EAC’s official conference hotel: pre-conference workshops, conference sessions, Welcome Reception, and Saturday-evening banquet will be held there.

To qualify for a reduced EAC guest-room rate, book your room by April 12, 2013. Rates range from $119/night for a “Petite Room” to $189/night for a “Premiere Room.”

Reserve by phone: call 1-800-565-2020 (room code: Editors’ Association of Canada). Reserve online (room code: 37015126).

Register for conference
Top

Selected conference costs for EAC, ISC, CAA, and WFNS members

  • Three-day registration: $515 for those who register by April 12, 2013 (after: $590)
  • Two-day registration: $360 for those who register by April 12, 2013 (after: $440)
  • One-day registration: $260
  • Pre-conference workshop: $100
  • Saturday-evening banquet: $75

Register for conference
Top

Selected conference costs for EAC, ISC, CAA, and WFNS student members

  • Three-day registration: $410
  • Two-day registration: $290
  • One-day registration: $200
  • Pre-conference workshop: $100
  • Saturday-evening banquet: $75

Register for conference
Top

Selected conference costs for non-members

  • Three-day registration: $750
  • Two-day registration: $620
  • One-day registration: $37
  • Pre-conference workshop: $125
  • Saturday-evening banquet: $75

Register for conference
Top

June 8, 2013: Editing Workshop … For Writers Too

This workshop will also be held May 11, 2013, in Victoria; July 13, 2013, in Nanaimo; and August 17, 2013, on Salt Spring Island.

This summer, editor Cheryl Cohen will be offering four sessions of her hands-on editing workshop, which she describes as an “intensive, fun encounter.” Topics will include: substantive editing; copy editing; proofreading; the editor–writer relationship; and tips on how to become a professional editor. Each participant will receive an 18-page handout.

About the instructor: Cheryl Cohen is an experienced freelance editor who has worked on many high-profile books, including Miriam Toews’ widely read novel A Complicated Kindness, which won the 2004 Governor General’s Award for English Fiction. Cheryl spoke about the state of the publishing industry—and how writers should adapt—at the Professional Editors Association of Vancouver Island (PEAVI) May 13, 2013, meeting.

Top

NORAD tracks Santa

NORAD keeps close watch on Santa as he nears Canadian airspace.

Want to know when Santa enters Canadian airspace on Christmas Eve? So does NORAD.

In the 2012 Canadian NORAD Region holiday video, Major General Pierre St-Amand explains that “trackers in the Canadian air-defence sector … [will] closely monitor their radar systems to make sure Santa and his reindeer are not delayed on their way into your home on Christmas Eve.”

Official NORAD Santa Tracker.

When Santa and his reindeer near eastern Canada, NORAD will scramble two Canadian fighter jets to escort Santa into Canadian airspace; the fighter jets will accompany Santa across Canada as he makes his deliveries and then escort him to the border to ensure that he leaves.

Merry Christmas!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-ECciloF0&w=560&h=315]

© Canadian NORAD Region.

Winter Word Art

If you ever find yourself buried under an avalanche, survival experts advise that you first clear the snow surrounding you then spit into it. Whichever way the saliva goes, up will be in the opposite direction.

Let it Snow! Rosemarie Jarski, 2004.

Photo courtesy of The Hannah Collection.

Happy holidays!

Happy holidays from the crew at West Coast Editor.

Submission deadlines

West Coast Editor accepts content for publication at any time during the year, with four exceptions: feature articles, feature interviews, gift featurettes, and recurring columns, which have longer lead times.

  • February 2013 edition: January 4, 2013
  • March 2013 edition: February 1, 2013
  • April 2013 edition: March 1, 2013
  • May 2013 edition: March 29, 2013

Learn more about writing for West Coast Editor.

Urban Girl gets culinary

Box-standard biscotti.

Box-standard biscotti. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

Exciting poodle biscotti!

Exciting poodle biscotti! The smaller, thinner shape requires less baking time than the traditional oblong. Recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, page 296.

This Christmas, Urban Girl is baking her way through her hostess-gift list. A recent trip to a local flea market turned into a cookie-cutter shopping spree when she happened upon a stash of retro kitchenalia. She’s decided to make low-fat gingerbread wiener-dogs (recipe: The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking) as well as poodle and Scottie dog biscotti (recipe: Flat Belly Diet Cookbook).

Cookies in wide-mouth mason jars, with a twist of eco-friendly twine. Hostess gifts done.

Top tip: hover around the oven when baking cookie-cutter biscotti—the smaller, thinner shapes burn easily.

After burning two batches of her poodle and Scottie dog biscotti, Urban Girl realized that they needed less than half the baking time called for in the Flat Belly Diet Cookbook recipe. Lesson learned.

Sourcing:

The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.

Funky cookie cutters
While Urban Girl purchased her cookie cutters at a local flea market, she noticed equally funky-looking ones on the Etsy social–commerce site.

Lifetime measuring cups
Urban Girl loves her measuring cups. They have pouring spouts on both sides and can be placed directly on the stove top to melt butter or warm oil.

Spice Jar measuring spoons
Urban Girl swears by her slim-line Spice Jar measuring spoons: each fits into the mouth of a standard spice container, metal or glass. The day after she purchased them, she dropped off her box-standard balloon-shaped measuring spoons at her local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

“Gingerbread People (Reduced Fat)” recipe from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker, 1997. Recipe on pages 828–829.

“Almond Biscotti” recipe from Flat Belly Diet Cookbook, Liz Vaccariello with Cynthia Sass, 2008.
This biscotti recipe has become an Urban Girl favourite: it’s low(ish) calorie and delicious. Recipe on page 296.

Top

Urban Girl and the Secret Santa gift

Urban Girl will be going to several Christmas parties this month, all featuring a Secret Santa gift exchange. So what has she decided to buy? Canadian. She’s putting together small gift baskets featuring gorgeous hand-blown Christmas-tree ornaments—made by Vancouver glass artist Malcolm Macfadyen—and tins of specialty teas from Great Wall Tea Company and DavidsTea. All affordable. All Canadian.

Sourcing:

The items photographed in this spread are the personal property of WCE staffers: WCE does not endorse these items and does not endorse these retailers. Sourcing is provided only as a courtesy.

DavidsTea.
DavidsTea also has more than 150 types of tea to choose from, which makes Urban Girl very happy. Choice is good.

Glass Craft.
Urban Girl loves blown-glass Christmas ornaments and thinks that everyone else should too. She found hers in a local nursery.

Great Wall Tea Company.
Urban Girl loves Great Wall Tea Company. It carries more than 150 types of tea, including her favourite, the über-pungent black tea Russian Caravan.

Twine spool with scissors
This twine spool reminds Urban Girl of a gigantic spool for thread. It’s funky and functional.

Top