Mary McLaughlin
I founded Little Red Pen in 2012. With a Master’s degree in English, I have experience in plain language business writing, editing, strategic planning, facilitation, communications and asset planning.
I love to talk with people or look at their drafts, then help them find a way to say exactly what they wanted to but didn’t know how. I can spot a typo at 100 paces, turn a jargon-laden behemoth of a sentence into an elegant little pearler and scrub up your formatting so that your readers don’t get distracted by visual clutter and inconsistency. I respect my clients as writers and have a joyous pig-in-mud love of words.
I’m a judge for the Plain Language Awards and a Board member of the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival. I’m also part of the Manu Scripts team (a small local publisher). I am on the Kaitiaki Group for Dunedin Community Builders and am a Trustee for the Māori and Pasifika Education Trust.
After stints in Melbourne and Wellington, I’m home in Dunedin where I revel in the hills, harbour, deep friendships, amazing community and crisp, still air. I share my life with one lanky Australian, two gorgeous boys, a stripy, smoochy cat and a sweet-eyed, eager border collie.
Felix Telfer (intern)
I joined the Little Red Pen team in 2023 and offer proofreading services at an intern rate. I am reliable, methodical and have excellent general knowledge – my strengths are geography, history, politics and the natural world. I read widely, with a focus on fantasy and the classics.
I finished high school in 2023 and am combining work with some short editing courses. My interests are reading, geography and travel, acting, directing and football.