Shaun Oakey

A versatile perfectionist with many years’ experience and plenty of repeat clients, among them Penguin, Random House, Doubleday, McClelland & Stewart, and HarperCollins. Copy-edited all three editions of
Editing Canadian English (1987, 2000, 2015).

Frequently landing on my desk are fiction (Michael Crummey, Kim Echlin, Alicia Elliott, Camilla Gibb, Barbara Gowdy, David Adams Richards, Johanna Skibsrud, M.G. Vassanji, Katherena Vermette, Jack Whyte), nonfiction (Elizabeth Abbott, Stephen Bown, Mark Critch, Marie Henein, James Maskalyk, Sarah Polley, Tanya Talaga), and cookbooks (Jason Bangerter, Laura Calder, Lynn Crawford, Chuck Hughes, Jamie Kennedy, Nuit Regular, Michael Smith, Lucy Waverman).

Praised by editors and authors for a good eye, a good ear, tact, and unflappability. Kim Echlin writes, “You edit so beautifully, not only for accuracy and content and  ideas but for  word choices and rhythms.” Another author writes, “Shaun always seemed to know the exact word or phrase that I struggled to find, and truly elevated the book and writing.”