Zoe Moffatt
Macedon Ranges resident has won the 2023 Institute of Professional Editors Student Prize for their essay on sustainability challenges and solutions.
Resident Lauren Connell, who studies writing and editing at RMIT, wrote her essay about Australia’s trade publishing industry and titled the piece; “can Australia’s trade publishing industry go green?”
Ms Connell said she was at home when she received the news and screamed in a mixture of excitement, surprise and disbelief.
“I was at home with my dad who was out the back taking the new puppy for a walk when he heard screaming from inside the house,” Ms Connell said.
“Initially he thought I had set the house on fire or something, so he was relieved when he found me at the desk beaming at my laptop instead.”
“I submitted my report for the prize after some encouragement from my tutor… but I never dreamed it would actually win.”
Ms Connell’s essay draws on reports and interviews from industry experts to address how to implement a sustainable publishing practice.
While the essay acknowledges the initiatives that have already been put in place by many major Australian presses, Ms Connell’s said her work focuses on the small and independent sector.
Ms Connell said Michael Mann’s book The New Climate War and her upbringing in the Macedon Ranges has fuelled her interest in the environment.
“I believe we’re all responsible – every individual, industry, government and corporation,” she said. “That’s what compelled me to research sustainability in the sector I hope to work in.”
“Writing this report has shown me how much the industry does care about this issue and that progress is finally starting to happen.”
The annual IPEd Student Prize acknowledges Australian or New Zealand tertiary students’ excellent work in editing or publishing.
