Return to directory


Editor: Helen Topor

TopWords Writing and Editing Services

Email: helenvtopor@gmail.com

https://helentopor.com

25+ years of editing experience across a wide range of disciplines and genres. Fast turnaround. Reasonable rates. Sensitivity to writer’s purpose, organisational and reader needs, and cultural issues.

Services

All levels of editing, proofreading, MS assessment, writing and abridging content, conversion to plain English, mentoring editors and writers of fiction and non-fiction

Subject matter experience

Anthropology, education, film noir, history, journalism, visual arts; fiction, non-fiction; biography, life stories and memoir; management and business; psychology

Genre and platform

Theses, research reports, books, journals, training and user manuals, guidelines, articles, tertiary learning materials, newsletters, web content, museum wall text

Specific projects

Edited

Theses (PhD, Masters, Honours)
Biography; Drivers of inequality in Singapore; The impact of market participants’ behaviour on stock, derivatives and energy markets; An assessment of social media tools for enhancing intelligence capability; Writing an Australian film noir; Visual arts education; Citizenship education; Restoring credibility at a national museum after the ‘History Wars’, 2003–2013; the experiences of women in the Australian Army; intimate partner violence against women in Ethiopia

Recent books

  • Patrick Kilby, NGOs and political change: ACFID over 50 years, ANU Press, 2015
  • Alexandra Dellios, Histories of Controversy: Bonegilla Migrant Centre, MUP, Melbourne, 2017
  • Carolyn Young & Sue McIntyre, Grassland in Transition, self-published, 2018
  • Owen Griffiths, Jean-Marie Huron & Marina Carter, From Piastres to Polymer: A history of the paper money of Mauritius from 1720-2017, Bioculture Press, Mauritius, 2018
  • Jerrad Tyson, The One Percenters, Professional Footballers Assoc., Australia, 2019

Conference Papers
Political Life Writing in the Pacific Islands, Jack Corbett and Brij V Lal, eds, ANU Press, 2015

Research articles and reports
In the fields of primatology; ornithology; natural history; Indigenous homelessness services and problem gambling; evaluation of NAPLAN in a longitudinal study of Australian children; designing a culturally suitable assessment model for indigenous language and cultural competencies


Wrote

Books
Outdoor Games for Today’s Kids, TopWords, 2017
Discovering Vermeer, TopWords, 2018
Neither King Nor Saint, TopWords, 2022, Winner of the 2023 MARION Notable Book
Award for non-fiction.
Seeking an agent for The Delft Muse (debut novel)

Short stories
‘The gift’ in First-time Mum, Book Pal, 2010
‘Alone in Paris’, work in progress

Articles
Numerous for The Canberra Editor; ‘Editing in a team’, for the ACTive Voice newsletter, July issue, 2026; for the NGA’s News and Views newsletter for Voluntary Guides, numerous articles on artists, exhibitions, and ways of understanding art.

Reviews

  • Michelle Sabto, The On-screen Editing Handbook, Tertiary Press, Croydon, 2003
  • Neil James, Writing at Work, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2007
  • Michael Phelan, Literati, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, 2005
  • Elizabeth Flann, Beryl Hill & Lan Wang, The Australian Editing Handbook, 3rd ed., Wiley, Brisbane, 2014
  • Aline Kiner, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Pushkin Press, London, 2023

Qualifications

BA (Hons) and Diploma of Education, UNSW; Master of Education, Sydney University

Completed numerous short courses in editing and writing; presented conference papers on education, editing, writing memoir, and the power of fiction