Davies awarded 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal

The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has announced Kerry Davies as the winner of the 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal for services to editing.

Davies has worked in publishing and communications since 1977. She has worked on more than 300 publications and projects for publishers, the university, non-profit, government and corporate sectors, and private clients across many genres, both fiction and nonfiction. Davies worked in roles at the Queensland Conservation Council, the University of Queensland Press, Jacaranda Wiley and Magabala Books. Davies’s next planned project is to co-author, with Stephanie Holt, the third edition of The Editor’s Companion.

‘My career over the past forty-five years has been wide-ranging’, said Davies. ‘Every aspect, every experience, some exhilarating, some just a tad scary and some even painful, is built on the last and feeds into the next; it’s a never-ending learning process that informs what I bring to my current editing practice.’

IPEd chair Ruth Davies said Kerry Davies (no relation) had made an outstanding contribution to the editing profession and was well known to many IPEd members, having served as Editors Queensland president for six years from 2010 and as Queensland director for IPEd from 2013.

‘As a member of the Queensland branch of IPEd, I have long looked up to her and been inspired by her commitment, her professionalism and her sheer tenacity on behalf of all editors,’ said Ruth Davies. ‘She’s a true leader, motivating and encouraging people and bringing them along with her.’

The Janet Mackenzie Medal, IPEd’s highest award, is named in memory of the late editor, author and IPEd member Janet Mackenzie.

The winner of last year’s medal was Renée Otmar.

Pictured: Ruth Davies, Kerry Davies and Karen Lee.

Category: Awards Local news