Open Word: Readings and Ideas, Andrew Westoll

Andrew Westoll read from his award-winning book, The Chimps at Fauna Sanctuary, at the University of Victoria in the Hickman Building, Room 110 on Monday, February 25, at 1:00 P.M. He gave a second reading at Open Space on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, at 7:30 p.m., followed by an interview by David Leach. 

Westoll s reading was part of the literary series Open Word: Readings and Ideas, jointly organized by Open Space and the University of Victoria Department of Writing. Andrew Westoll spent months at Fauna Sanctuary as a volunteer caregiver. The sanctuary was founded in 1997 by Gloria Grow, who refitted on her farm outside Montreal for chimps retired from biomedical research. For the indomitable Grow, looking after thirteen great apes is like presiding over a maximum security prison, a Zen retreat, an old folks home, and a New York deli during the lunchtime rush. But she is first and foremost creating a refuge for her troubled charges, a place where they can recover and begin to trust humans again. Hoping to win some of this trust, journalist Andrew Westoll vividly recounts his adventures in the chimphouse and the heart-wrenching histories of its residents. Through Westoll s eyes, we witness the chimps remarkable recovery firsthand. The Chimps won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, was shortlisted for the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, and was named a Book of the Year by the Globe and Mail, Amazon.ca, Quill and Quire, and CTV s Canada AM.