Author Andrew Westoll has been named Wilfrid Laurier University’s Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence. Westoll’s residency takes place from January to April, 2013.

About Andrew Westoll
Westoll is a primatologist and an award-winning narrative journalist. He is the author of The Riverbones and The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery. The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary won the 2012 Charles Taylor Prize, one of Canada’s most prestigious non-fiction book prizes. The book was shortlisted for the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction and the BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, and named a book of the year by The Globe and Mail, Amazon.ca, Quill & Quire and CTV’s Canada AM.

Westoll holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He is a Gold National Magazine Award winner and his feature writing appears in The Walrus, Utne Reader, explore, Canadian Geographic, The Globe and Mail and The Guardian, among others. His work has also been anthologized in Cabin Fever: The Best New Canadian Non-Fiction. Westoll currently resides in Toronto.

Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence Activities
Westoll will be devoted to writing projects and community programs and projects at Laurier, including: reading manuscripts and consulting with students and the public, visiting classrooms, giving readings and lectures, and leading workshops.

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2 - 4 p.m. 3-155, Dr. Alvin Woods Building, Waterloo campus

EVENTS

February 11
4:30 – 6 p.m.
Writing Workshop: Can writing be both creative and informative? Integrating creativity with academic writing demands.
Laurier Library, Waterloo campus L3-314

March 6
7-8:30 p.m.
Public Reading, joint with Writer-in-Residence Alissa York
Hawk’s Nest, Fred Nichols’ Campus Centre on Laurier’s Waterloo campus

March 7
Public Reading, joint with Writer-in-Residence Alissa York
CB100, Carnegie Building on Laurier's Brantford campus

March 15
10 a.m. – noon
Book signing at Laurier Open House, Waterloo Campus

March 18
4:30 – 6 p.m.
Writing Workshop: Can writing be both creative and informative? Integrating creativity with academic writing demands.
Laurier Library, Waterloo campus L3-314

March 26
7 – 8:30 p.m.
Public Reading
Hawk’s Nest, Fred Nichols’ Campus Centre, Laurier’s Waterloo campus