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So you want my arts job: Publishing Managing Editor

Kevin O'Brien manages both staff and books in his busy, very much hands-on, senior editorial position.

25 Sep 2023 9:00

Thuy On

Writing and Publishing

‘Some authors expect editors to be stern and disapproving of their errors, and can even be disappointed when they find out that we’re lovely and diplomatic!’ Photo: Supplied.

Kevin O’Brien is an editor with 25 years of professional experience, at companies including LexisNexis (London), Mainstream Publishing (Edinburgh), Penguin Random House (Sydney) and Scribe Publications (Melbourne), where he was the managing editor from 2018 to 2021. He is currently managing editor at Affirm Press (Melbourne). As well as ensuring the smooth running of Affirm’s editorial department, he teaches on-screen editing, PDF markup and proofreading skills for a range of organisations, including IPEd, the University of Sydney, RMIT and trade publishing houses across Australia.

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Thuy On

Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy