Author: Anita Jenkins

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Anita Jenkins

Do Freelance Editors Know How to Work at Home?

September 1, 2020 by Anita Jenkins | 11 Comments on Do Freelance Editors Know How to Work at Home?

Many thousands of office employees who were forced to work from home because of COVID-19 will continue to do so. Only 36 per cent of Canadians anticipate returning to their “place of work” when the pandemic subsides, according to an Angus Reid study. Freelance editors have been working from home for years and, by and […]

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Iva Cheung: Winner of the 2019 Karen Virag Award

July 23, 2019 by Anita Jenkins | 6 Comments on Iva Cheung: Winner of the 2019 Karen Virag Award

The annual Karen Virag Award recognizes exceptional efforts by an individual or organization to raise the profile of editing in their community. A highly accomplished member of Editors Canada, Virag died in 2014. Recipients to date are Nancy Flight, Virginia Durksen, James Harbeck and Iva Cheung. Editors Canada’s awards season always presents the judges with […]

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Getting Paid a Living Wage: The Editor’s Constant Challenge

April 16, 2019 by Anita Jenkins | 3 Comments on Getting Paid a Living Wage: The Editor’s Constant Challenge

I have been retired, or semi-retired, for almost a decade now. My career as a freelance writer and editor has gradually given way to new and different pursuits. But recently, a couple of projects for pay showed up in my inbox, and I succumbed. One was related to local history, a lifelong passion of mine. […]

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Conferences Are for Everyone

July 10, 2018 by Anita Jenkins | 5 Comments on Conferences Are for Everyone

I had a lot of reasons not to attend the Editors Canada 2018 conference, held in Saskatoon on May 25-27. I was struggling with low energy and caregiving duties (spouse). Also, I have been retired — or at least semi-retired — for a decade. But since Saskatoon is so close to my home in Edmonton […]

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A Promising New Editor

June 12, 2018 by Anita Jenkins | 2 Comments on A Promising New Editor

Letitia Henville of Vancouver, B.C., is the recipient of the Editors Canada 2017 Claudette Upton Scholarship,* which recognizes promising emerging editors. The “promising” part of the description definitely applies to Letitia. The “emerging” part, not so much: she has hit the ground running. Like many editors, Letitia entered the profession in a roundabout way. In […]

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Mentorship: Where the Learners Teach and the Teachers Learn

October 24, 2017 by Anita Jenkins | 3 Comments on Mentorship: Where the Learners Teach and the Teachers Learn

Having a mentor is often invaluable for workers in their early to middle careers. Courses, study groups, guest speakers and conferences all help them learn their trade. But one-on-one interaction with a wise and supportive mentor is an incredibly important component of the learning curve. Let’s not forget, though, how much an experienced professional can […]

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Editors Canada’s Karen Virag Award

July 4, 2017 by Anita Jenkins | 1 Comment on Editors Canada’s Karen Virag Award

Editors Canada established the Karen Virag Award in 2016 to honour the memory of a remarkable Edmonton editor. This award recognizes individuals or groups who do an exceptional job of raising the profile of editors and the editing profession. These skills and initiatives are somewhat exceptional among the editing ranks, since an editor’s usual role […]

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Quick and Dirty

February 7, 2017 by Anita Jenkins | 20 Comments on Quick and Dirty

When I was following the editors’ chat group, I often found myself silently screaming, “Who cares?” Or perhaps not so silently. The conversation frequently dealt with moving the words around in a sentence to make it “perfect” or correcting a fine point of grammar or checking what Chicago says about the em dash. Most of […]

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Facts and Fiction: English, Cows and the TLS

July 2, 2014 by Anita Jenkins | 1 Comment on Facts and Fiction: English, Cows and the TLS

This is the first in our “Facts and Fiction” series of mini-book reviews. Each blog entry will briefly describe one non-fiction and one fiction title that might interest editors and other lovers of language. The Story of English By Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil and William Cran (third edition). Penguin, 2002. I’ve always loved this book, […]

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Why Reading Is a Great Hobby for an Editor/Writer

June 10, 2014 by Anita Jenkins | 11 Comments on Why Reading Is a Great Hobby for an Editor/Writer

The biographies of skilled communicators often reveal a lifelong, serious reading habit. I don’t think this is a coincidence. I have read constantly and voraciously since the age of five, and I give that habit (addiction?) a lot of the credit for the writing and editing skills I have developed. Reading makes you smart Those […]

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What’s an editor to do?

February 19, 2013 by Anita Jenkins | 4 Comments on What’s an editor to do?

Virginia Durksen recently stated in her blog post The Inner Editor: Reflections on Editing as Mindful Practice that an editor must “respect the writer’s voice and suggest only those changes that serve the writer first, and then the writer’s reader.” Certainly I agree; it’s a big mistake to indiscriminately apply a standardized style so firmly […]

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