Editing

Professional editing can transform a good manuscript into a great one.

Way Back When works with authors, designers and publishers during the copyediting and proofreading process to ensure writing is clear and concise, has a consistent style and is free from spelling and typographical errors. We specialise in history-related manuscripts, but no matter what your topic, we can help.

We also support clients through the design process to ensure correct image placement, edit text to meet design requirements and create a professional and polished publication for authors, clients and publishers.

Circa: the journal of professional historians
Circa provides a forum for Professional Historians Association (PHA) members throughout Australia to publish work that reflects the diverse ways in which professional historians engage with history and practice in areas such as cultural heritage, museums, oral history, commissioned history, the media, education and government.

Submissions may discuss pertinent ethical or philosophical questions, exhibitions or historical drama; be a piece of creative or reflective writing; explore the use of common or unusual sources; or examine a topical issue. Reviews of exhibitions, historical drama, books and other publications will also be included.

The seventh edition of Circa, released in May 2020, was edited by Way Back When.

Newman College: a history, 1918-2018
This centenary history of Newman College gives the individual viewpoints of more than one hundred men and women who spent formative years within Walter Burley Griffin’s iconic spaces. The authors have mined college archives and public records to show how Newman interacts with, and is shaped by, changes within the Catholic Church, the University of Melbourne and the Australian community. Founded in 1918 as an all-male college, and entrusted to the Jesuits, to give the then underprivileged Catholic community equality of access to tertiary education, Newman is now a co-educational college of three hundred undergraduate and postgraduate students from varied backgrounds. The story of Newman College celebrates fun and companionship, endeavours and achievements, while confronting the invariable dissent and occasional conflict that accompany social and cultural changes.

Brenda Niall, Josephine Dunin and Frances O’Neill
Newman College, 2018
ISBN 978-0-646-983004
270 pages

In Caring Hands: the history of Rochester and Elmore District Health Service
The history of health care in Rochester dates back to the 1870s with the first recorded medical service. This book traces the significant milestones in the history of heath services in the area, including the opening of the Rochester and District War Memorial Hospital in 1952, the amalgamation with the Elmore District Hospital in 1993 to form the Rochester and Elmore District Health Service, and the major redevelopment of the hospital in recent years. In Caring Hands also celebrates those responsible for providing compassionate care to the population – commemorating the vision of administrators, the dedication of staff and the generosity of the community.

Eve Salter
Rochester and Elmore District Health Service, 2012
ISBN 978-0-646-58722-6
120 pages

Setting it Straight: a history of the Orthopaedic Department at St Vincent’s Hospital
The first operation to internally fix a fractured hip at St Vincent’s Hospital was in 1902, but it was not until 1934 that the first specialist orthopaedic surgeon was appointed. From its earliest days the Orthopaedic Department at St Vincent’s was challenged to meet the demands of treating trauma from workplace injuries and the ever-rising road toll. This history tells the story of those surgeons and nurses who worked in the department over 75 years. It explores what inspired them to choose a career in orthopaedics and what sustained them in their endeavour to provide a high standard of care to all patients who came to St Vincent’s seeking relief from their pain and disability.

Josephine Dunin
Utber & Patullo Publishing, 2011
ISBN 978-0-9805569-8-8
196 pages. Hardback 

Containers of Power: women with clever hands
The most comprehensive and consummate insight yet published into the Indigenous fibre art of northeast Arnhem Land, Containers of Power investigates the complex set of relationships between fibre works and their makers. Based on the long term engagement of anthropologist Louise Hamby with the women of Gapuwiyak (Lake Evella) in Arnhem Land, this book retrieves recognition for the relatively unknown creative practice of the Gapuwiyak community. Celebrating both the women artists of this area and the bathi that are integral to all aspects of Yolngu life, 700 images illustrate the work of Gapuwiyak women past and present, highlighting their individual styles and demonstrating their cultural identity.

Louise Hamby
Utber & Patullo Publishing, 2010
ISBN 978-0-980556964
340 pages. Hardback

Suburban Heartland: a history of the City of Whitehorse
The City of Whitehorse, in the heart of Melbourne's eastern suburbia, is quintessential middle Australia, yet it has a heart all of its own that defies popular perceptions of suburbia as a monotonous wasteland. In the two hundred years since this piece of Wurundjeri country was first sighted by Europeans, the landscape has been transformed several times over: to farms, orchards, brickworks, boom-time housing subdivisions and institutions for the disadvantaged; to the spacious residential estates of the post-war era – some retaining their bush surroundings – interspersed with shopping centres and pockets of factories; to the villa units and flats, regional business and retail centres and knowledge-based industrial estates of the last thirty years.

Lesley Alves
Utber & Patullo Publishing, 2010
ISBN 978-0-9805569-5-7
312 pages. Hardback and softback

From Humble Beginnings: the story of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Victoria, 1890–2009
From humble beginnings in rural South Australia in 1866, nurtured by founders Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart became a distinctly Australian Religious Congregation. While the Sisters of St Joseph in Victoria shared the Josephite ethos with Sisters in many parts of Australia and New Zealand, the Victorian chapter of the Josephite story is shaped by historical, social and educational trends unique to this state.

This history explores the Josephite spirit as it was expressed in Victoria and, in personalising the experience of the Sisters in Victoria, sheds light on a group of women who had a significant impact on the lives of so many.

Jill Barnard
Utber & Patullo Publishing, 2009
ISBN 978-0-9805569-3-3
220 pages. Hardback