TORONTO TAKES IT
Jury calls The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary ‘an important work of art and documentary science’
Local writer Andrew Westoll steals Charles Taylor Prize from remaining B.C. contenders
Toronto writer Andrew Westoll has been named winner of the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction for his book The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery.
Referring to Westoll’s account of his experiences working for 10 weeks in a primate rehabilitation centre in rural Quebec among 13 chimpanzees rescued from biomedical and space science labs, the Taylor jury said in a joint statement: “Brilliantly blending science and storytelling . . . Westoll deftly draws the reader into the wild day-to-day ride of life with the Fauna chimps and . . . through his lens, the chimps are revealed as the individuals they are, with all their foibles, damage and possibility.
“Heart-rending and heartwarming, this is a stunning and important work of art and documentary science.”
A former biologist and primatologist, Westoll, 34, was the only non-B.C. resident among the contenders for the $25,000 prize. The other nominees were Wade Davis, for Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest; Charlotte Gill, for Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-planting Tribe; JJ Lee, for The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit; and Madeline Sonik, for Afflictions & Departures: Essays. They received $2,000 each. All the Taylor Prize nominees were in attendance when the winner was announced at a luncheon in Toronto on Monday. “I’m overwhelmed, completely unprepared,” Westoll told the Star moments after his win. “I’m just happy I’m going to get to talk about the chimps in front of more people during the coming year.” Westoll, a graduate in creative writing at the University of British Columbia, is the author of the Suriname travel memoir The Riverbones, and a narrative journalist whose work is regularly published in science, travel and geographical magazines. “I was so unprepared that I forgot to thank my editor and my agent . . . just the chimps,” he said in the ballroom of Toronto’s Le Meridien King Edward Hotel.
“All the books nominated this year are so amazing . . . but there are only five of us, and someone has to win.”
Westoll will be hosted by prize sponsor RBC Wealth Management in several cities across Canada to speak about his book.
He will also be a featured guest at the International Festival of Authors in October.
The jury consisted of authors Allan M. Brandt and Stevie Cameron, and publishing consultant Susan Renouf. Each juror read 115 books, submitted by 35 publishers from around the world.