Andrew Westoll Wins 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

Posted on March 13, 2012

The winner of The 2012 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is Andrew Westoll for his book,The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery. The book was also nominated for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

The annual Charles Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian literary non-fiction. You can find out more about the annual prize on the official site, thecharlestaylorprize.ca.

Here is what the jury said about The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary:

"Brilliantly blending science and storytelling, primatologist and author Andrew Westoll takes us deep into the world of the haunted and haunting rescued research chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. Pulled from decades of horrific lab conditions, rescued chimps live out the balance of their long lives in sanctuaries such as Fauna, cared for and loved by an extraordinary group of people. Westoll deftly draws the reader into the wild day-to-day ride of life with the Fauna chimps and soon their Otherness falls away. Through his lens, the chimps are revealed as the individuals they are, with all their foibles, damage, and possibility - and the reader's world view shifts on its axis. Heart-rending and heart-warming, this is a stunning and important work of art and documentary and science."