Editor
I’m a freelance editor and proofreader with experience in fiction, non-fiction, and public sector work.
Recent projects include titles for Bridget Williams Books, Te Herenga Waka University Press and Te Tākupu. I’ve also worked in the Hansard editing team at New Zealand Parliament and for the Waitangi Tribunal. I’m a Pākehā person with ancestors from Shetland, Ireland and the UK.
I also work as a fiction supervisor, assessor, and mentor, providing feedback and reports to developing writers.
I’m a member of the Institute of Professional Editors (IPED), and I can help with freelance editing, proofreading and manuscript assessments. Please get in touch to discuss your project.
Editing Projects
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Recent projects include literary titles kitten, (Te Herenga Waka University Press (THWUP), 2024), Dream Girl (THWUP, 2023), Tauhou (THWUP, 2022) and The Ani Waaka Room (Te Tākupu, 2022).
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Recent titles include Rugby League in New Zealand: A People’s History (Bridget Williams Books, forthcoming in Oct 2023), Towards a Grammar of Race (Bridget Williams Books, 2022) and The Mermaid Boy (Hue & Cry Press, 2015)
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Hue & Cry Journal. I worked on this art and literary journal as literary co-editor.
o Issue 3: Good Times, Bad Times
o Issue 4: Champion This!
o Issue 5: With a Bullet
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Trees: We Love Them All. A collection of writing, photos, and artwork by 26 contributors. Designer: Go Ahead Graphics. Cover image: Mike Glover.
“I had the pleasure of working with Lawrence Patchett on a number of books over a number of years. He showed me what it meant to be a good editor—the care, the patience, the generosity that is required. He has an astute eye, an unwavering love for the written word, and an incredible capacity to see the work and what it's trying to do, and then to help make it better.”
— Chloe Lane, publisher, Hue & Cry Press; author, The Swimmers. Image: Hue & Cry Press
“Lawrence Patchett has the qualities you’d hope for from an editor: patience, attentiveness, and an eye for detail. But he also brings an expertise in the art and craft of storytelling and a genuine interest in understanding what the writer is trying to achieve. It’s a luxury to have someone read your work so carefully!”
— John Summers, author of The Mermaid Boy and The Commercial Hotel. Image: Unity Books
QUALIFICATIONS
PhD Creative Writing 2012 - Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
Masters Creative Writing 2007 - Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
BA (Hons) English Literature 1998 - University of Canterbury
Te Aupikitanga ki te Reo Kairangi 2019 – Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
MEMBERSHIPS
Institute of Professional Editors (IPED)
New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA)
Photo: Ebony Lamb