The Maritime [EDIT] Bilingual Edition
Edit Media is an independent multimedia publisher best known for its premium magazine The Maritime [EDIT], a quarterly publication featuring artists, musicians, writers and other culture-makers in Atlantic Canada. Edit Media’s team of journalists, artists and photographers prides itself on quality written content and attractive visuals, and was looking to put together a special bilingual edition. It would be a private job for the New Brunswick government and therefore require French and English versions of each article.
The Problem
Atlantic Canada’s cultural landscape is rich with local artists, events and institutions. However, the region’s Francophone communities―comprised of Acadians, Québecois and French migrants and Francophone minorities―each have unique identities and linguistic nuances. Translating them requires precision and a deep familiarity with regional variations in French to avoid flattening cultural meaning or unintentionally changing tone.
Writers focused on “culture makers” also often use highly stylized or literary prose. Keeping the rhythm, tone and creative flair of the original while ensuring readability in French can be demanding, and so Edit Media was seeking a handful of translators capable of translating topics and terminology around arts and culture.
The Solution
In order not to overload one specific translator and ensure quality work, each article was assigned to a translator who was confident in their ability to strike the right balance between accuracy and natural French style.
In addition, local translators were called on to capture the linguistic nuances in French, such as place names. In the Maritimes, unless there is an official translation of a place name, the original language is often used. Some terms (such as names of institutions, festivals or government programs) exist in both languages, while others should not be translated. Deciding what would stay in English and what would be translated into French therefore required translators who were familiar with the linguistic dynamics in Atlantic Canada.
Each translation was also reviewed by a bilingual editor for consistency in punctuation, spelling and context-specific translations where knowing the target audience was essential.
Lastly, a final unilingual proofreading in French was completed where each article was reviewed without referencing the original. This final step served to identify awkward, literal or “translation-sounding” passages that a bilingual translator might have missed because they are too close to the source text.
The Outcome
In total, Word+Style’s team translated 10 articles featuring a range of prominent Francophone figures, including a Paralympic athlete, the curator of the Beaverbook Art Gallery in Fredericton, the inclusion and engagement advisor for the City of Moncton, independent bilingual publisher Goose Lane Editions, and soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee.
As a result of this bilingual edition, Edit Media contributed to spreading the influence of these distinguished Francophones throughout the Maritimes and beyond.
Front cover of the 2025 bilingual edition of [EDIT]
“Delightful, professional, highly skilled and always meet deadlines―I cannot recommend Natalie and everyone at Word+Style highly enough. We will be working together for a long time and I highly recommend you do the same. I am incredibly grateful to Natalie and her team for all that they do.”
~ James Mullinger, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, The Maritime [EDIT]