My Writing Matters

Editing

  • Rosemary Lombard

    Copy Editing
    Academic Editing
    Arts & Cultural Editing
    Research Editing
    Proofreading

    I am a Cape Town-based editor, researcher and writer with extensive experience in academic, arts and cultural editing. I work particularly with humanities and social sciences, visual arts, cultural studies, heritage, and research-led writing.

    My approach is careful and unobtrusive: I aim to improve clarity, grammar, syntax, flow and consistency, while preserving the writer’s voice and intellectual intentions. I am particularly attentive to writing that engages with complex ideas, specialised terminology and South African and African contexts.

    I have edited academic theses and dissertations, scholarly and research texts, exhibition and museum publications, essays, articles and other forms of cultural and critical writing. My work combines close attention to language with an understanding of the underlying argument, allowing me to flag places where a passage or connection between ideas may need clarification without unnecessarily rewriting the author’s work.

    I hold an Honours degree in Social Anthropology, a postgraduate diploma in Library and Information Studies, and have completed the coursework component of an MPhil in Heritage and Public Culture. I have worked extensively as an editor and researcher across academic, cultural and archival contexts for the best part of two decades.

    Preferred genres/fields: Academic and research writing, humanities and social sciences, environmental humanities, visual and sonic arts, art history, cultural studies, heritage, museums, archival and historical research, essays and cultural criticism.

    Contact Rosemary at: rklombard@gmail.com

  • Blake C Stacey

    Proofreading
    Copy Editing
    Fact Checking Physics and Mathematics
    LaTeX Typesetting

    I am a theoretical physicist (studied at MIT and Brandeis) with 25 years experience reading science and math writing and working to make it useful. I’ve written a textbook for graduate students, helped with anthologies of pop-science writing, and done plenty of other stuff in between. I can provide copy-editing and proofreading, including checking the integrity of references.
    I can also edit for flow and clarity, and advise on how to make English more idiomatic if desired. I can provide professional feedback in physics and mathematics, and feedback as an educated reader with general bookworm knowledge about other subjects.
    I’ve put years into learning the ins and outs of LaTeX typesetting. In a pinch, I can design a book cover and do print layout: I have done those multiple times for print-on-demand hobbyist projects.

    Preferred genres: Nonfiction, science/math

    Contact Blake at: bstacey@mit.edu
    Blake’s website

  • Martha Scheckle

    Fact Checking
    Proofreading
    Copy Editing
    Rewriting as briefed, such as condensing
    Writing of reports
    Translation from English to Afrikaans, and vice versa.

    I provide editing services such as copy editing and proofreading, considering style, logical structure and flow, condensing the copy to an acceptable size, and fact-checking. I also simplify and rewrite according to the brief provided. Writing services include reports, forewords, speeches and presentations, and general communications.
    I have had extensive post-graduate training in editing, including the Programme on Editing: Principles and Practice at the University of Pretoria in 2013 and the Plain Language Programme in 2016.
    Having been published in three anthologies of short stories and currently writing a mystery novel, I have had extensive training in creative writing.
    Postgraduate training includes editing, translation, and writing in various genres throughout my career, as recently as 2024. I am passionate about the craft of writing, whether fiction or factual.
    This includes fields such as aviation safety, for which I passed an international course with distinction. I also specialise in correctional services and penitentiary training, pension administration, annual reports, and targeted industry publications, especially in transport.

    Preferred Genres: Mystery, thrillers, romance, aviation safety, psychology, logic and philosophy. 

    Contact Martha at: marthascheckle@gmail.com

    Martha’s portfolio

  • Alexandra Dodd

    Reader’s Reports
    Fact Checking
    Proofreading
    Developmental Editing
    Copy Editing
    Guidance & Input on Book Cover Design

    I am a multi-genre writer, editor, and researcher.
    I have contributed texts to numerous books, art catalogues, monographs, and exhibition projects that bring together visual, literary, and archival cultures—particularly in ‘post’-colonial, ‘post’-Apartheid, and ‘post’-traumatic contexts.

    These include The Interpreters: South Africa’s New Non-fiction (Soutie Press, 2025); Johannes Phokela: Only Sun in the Sky Knows How I Feel (A Lucid Dream) (Zeitz MOCAA, 2023) and An Anthology of Non-Conformism: Rebel Wom!n, Words, Ways, and Wonders (DIO Press, 2024).

    I am the author of David Goldblatt: The Last Interview (Steidl, 2019), the editor of Nicola Brandt’s The Distance Within (Steidl, 2025), and a co-editor of Stockholm Cosmologies (Liljevalchs, 2025) and Radical Solidarity: A Reader (Zeitz MOCAA, 2023), among others.

    I’ve edited numerous novels, memoirs, non-fiction essay collections, and academic journals. I excel in structural and non-mother-tongue English language editing. As a vegan, I’m inspired by speculative fiction and narrative-led culture change.

    I hold a Bachelor of Journalism from Rhodes University, a Master of Arts (Creative Writing) from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, and a PhD (Literature) from the University of Cape Town.

    Preferred genres: Narrative non-fiction, novels, and memoirs with an essayistic, philosophical, or speculative bent.

    Contact Alexandra at thisalexandradodd@gmail.com

    Alexandra’s Instagram: @thisalexandradodd
    Alexandra’s LinkedIn

  • Nerine Dorman

    Editing

    Nerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of science fiction and fantasy currently living in Cape Town, with short fiction published in numerous anthologies. She is a contributor to the Locus Award-winning Afro-Centered Futurism in Our Speculative Fiction edited by Eugen Bacon (Bloomsbury, 2024), which was also the winner of the 2025 Ignyte Award for Outstanding Creative Nonfiction. Her novel Sing down the Stars won Gold for the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2019 and The Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Children’s and Youth Literature in 2021. Her YA fantasy novella, Dragon Forged, was a finalist in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2017, and she is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. Her short story “On the Other Side of the Sea” (Omenana, 2017) was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. Her novella The Firebird won a Nommo for “Best Novella” in 2019. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion.

    While she will take on select non-fiction works, her primary focus remains on commercial fiction, with a preference for science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, erotica, and historical fiction. She is proudly LBGTI friendly, and will also take on short story collections, provided they are supplied in one document.

    Preferred genres: Speculative Fiction, Romance and Historical, LGBTI+ friendly. No religious, memoir or inspirational.

    Please query Writers’ College for coursework and one-on-one tutoring

    Contact Nerine at: nerinedorman@gmail.com

  • Sigrid (Sirith) Kenmuir

    Proofreading
    Copy Editing
    With a focus on marketing materials

    My speciality is marketing materials. I’ve been a writer in marketing for most of my career and am really good at putting together the email streams, flyers, and other marketing material for anything that has to be sold.
    I’ve been a writer for business for the better part of 20 years. I’ve written, edited, proofread, and published 1000s of articles, social media captions, email newsletters, sales funnels, and all the marketing paraphernalia of businesses all over the world. From non-profits to global digital agencies, veterinary compounding to wine estates and travel, I can work with it. I’d LOVE to help you get your book to the publishers, polished and as perfect as possible. My aim is never to standardise or erase voice, but to smooth out and remove errors and inconsistencies. The ADHD pattern recognition is strong in me!

    Preferred Genre: I read mostly fantasy & science fiction, but can and will edit and proof any genre at all.

    Contact Sigrid at: skenmuir@gmail.com

    Sigrid’s website

  • Anoshi Saretzki

    Reader’s Reports
    Proofreading
    Developmental Editing
    Copy Editing
    Ebook Formatting
    Print Layout
    Illustration
    Manuscript Critique
    Writing Coach

    Anoshi Saretzki is a published YA fantasy novelist with 20 years’ experience shaping stories – from long- and short-form corporate brand narratives to full-length fiction. Combines professional editing expertise with hands-on publishing experience, offering authors practical guidance from first draft through publication and launch – including manuscript critique, writing coaching, developmental/structural editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, novel layout and publishing production and launch support.

    Preferred genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Adventure, Contemporary Fantasy

    Contact Anoshi at: anoshi.saretzki@gmail.com
    Anoshi’s website

    Anoshi’s Instagram