Diana Georgeff
‘Nadine was assigned to me by Random House to work on Delinquent Angel. Her judgment was impeccable. She was able to position herself above the text, find the strengths and expose them. On structure, she saw the whole picture with clarity and then worked magic. Without her vision and understanding of the intention of the work, I doubt that it would have reached its potential. She collaborated with intelligent calm and enthusiasm. Lucky the writer who works with Nadine.’
Diana Georgeff is the author of Delinquent Angel.
Ross Honeywill
‘Nadine has an unnerving ability to destroy the dross we dress-up and dream about. When editing Lamarck’s Evolution she gently but certainly excised the words I loved the most; all of the beautifully descriptive prose that made me feel like a writer. And the work instantly transformed from a lumpy manuscript into a book. And I became a writer.’
Ross Honeywill is the author of Lamark’s Evolution
Janine Burke
‘Not only is Nadine utterly reliable and professional, she is as fast as lightning.
Under pressure – and there is always plenty in the editing process – she never loses her cool and displays grace and humour.
She was a joy to work with.’
Janine Burke is the award-winning author of fifteen books of art history, fiction and biography, including The Heart Garden and Australian Gothic.
Jeanne Ryckmans
‘I worked with Nadine Davidoff for four years while she was a senior editor at Random House. During this time, Nadine worked across a number of award-winning titles – fiction and non-fiction (commercial and literary). Not only is Nadine a talented and sensitive editor who brings out the best in the authors she works with, she is highly professional, reliable and efficient and works to tight production deadlines. She is a publisher’s dream, with that rare quality of being able to work both independently and collaboratively with author and publisher. I recommend her without reservation.’
Jeanne Ryckmans is a Publisher at Vintage, Knopf, Random House
Frank Moorhouse
‘Over the last few years, I have worked with Nadine Davidoff on three distinctly different publishing projects: the Prime Ministers’ Series, of which I was general editor; my semi-fictional work of social criticism, The Inspector General of Misconception; and Best Australian Stories.Not only is Nadine a highly experienced text editor, she also has impressive client/editor talents which are rare in publishing and which are critical to the production of creatively enhanced books.’
Frank Moorhouse is the award-winning author of numerous books of fiction and non-fiction, including Grand Days, Dark Palace, and most recently, Martini.
Dr Gabrielle Wolf
‘I participated in the Writing for Readers course at Melbourne University, in which I had the great fortune to gain expert guidance from Nadine on how to adapt my academic writing for a general audience. Nadine articulated so precisely the qualities that make a book a good read that I left after just one day with a clear vision of how I wanted to transform my work. I saw that, in addition to her skills as an editorial consultant, Nadine has the gift of being able to inspire writers, giving them tremendous encouragement to realise their potential.’
Dr Gabrielle Wolf received a Melbourne University School of Graduate Studies Grant to transform her thesis on Australian theatre into a book for general readers.
Lucinda Holdforth
'Every now and then you get lucky. I got lucky when Nadine Davidoff edited my book True Pleasures: A Memoir of Women in Paris. I only realised after the process was over how skilfully Nadine had managed me and my manuscript. With the most delicate touch she guided me to tighten, clarify, enrich and improve the text – all the while making me feel both confident about my writing and open to the process of change. Nadine understood exactly what I was trying to achieve with my book, and helped me to get as close as possible to that ideal. I could not have asked for a better experience, but more importantly, True Pleasures was a far better book because of Nadine’s immense editorial gifts.'
Lucinda Holdforth's True Pleasures has been widely acclaimed both in Australia and overseas. Her new book, Why Manners Matter, also edited by Nadine, was published September 07.
Tony Moore
‘Nadine is a highly professional editor of intelligence and flair. She brings wide-ranging knowledge, skill with language, efficiency and diplomacy to all her projects. Importantly, Nadine loves books.’
Tony Moore is Publisher at Pluto Press Australia.
Charlotte Wood
‘Nadine edited my short story Honeymoon for Best Australian Stories 2005.
Her advice was insightful, perceptive and subtle. She expressed her opinions with elegant clarity, giving me concrete examples to work with, yet somehow avoiding the restrictive clamping-down on the story this might lead to in the hands of someone less skilled. It's always enormously reassuring when an editor can write beautifully herself, and Nadine's gentle, intelligent approach to her work inspired great confidence. The story was vastly improved by her contribution.'
Charlotte Wood's new novel, The Children, was published
Oct 07.
To contact Nadine, email nadine@nadinedavidoff.com.au