Media Advisory - International Festival of Authors (IFOA) shines the spotlight on The Charles Taylor Prize and its 2012 winner Andrew Westoll, Friday October 26th

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2012 /CNW/ - The International Festival of Authors (IFOA) joins forces with the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (CTP) for an evening of literary discussion headlined CTP 2012 winner, Andrew Westoll, author of The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary.  Mr. Westoll will be joined on stage by international writers Stuart Clark and Richard Ford.  CBC announcer Jeff Douglas is the evening's host.

WHEN: Friday, October 26 at 8:00 pm

WHERE: Brigantine Room, York Quay Centre, Toronto

IFOA Tickets: $15 members / $18 for non-members. Reserve tickets online: http://www.readings.org/?q=main/ifoa_main or Harbourfront Box Office 416-973-4000

WHO:  Andrew Westoll holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. He is the author of the travel memoir The Riverbones and a Gold National Magazine Award winner for works appearing in publications such as The Walrus, Canadian Geographic, Globe and Mail and The Guardian. Westoll shares his 2012 Charles Taylor Prize-winning work, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, the true story of a remarkable family of chimpanzees who spent decades as test subjects in a medical research lab and are now slowly recovering in an animal sanctuary near Montreal.

Richard Ford has published six novels and four collections of stories. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Independence Day and the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in short fiction. His latest novel, Canada, follows a 15-year-old Montana boy who finds himself in Saskatchewan after his parents are incarcerated for armed robbery.

Stuart Clark is a former editor of the UK's bestselling popular astronomy magazine Astronomy Now and a visiting fellow of the University of Hertfordshire. He divides most of his time between writing books and writing for the European Space Agency as senior editor for space science, alongside producing features for the BBC. He has written 17 books to date, which have been translated into 12 languages. Clark's The Sensorium of God is the second in a trilogy of novels inspired by the dramatic struggles and key historical events in man's quest to understand the universe.

Jeff Douglas is the co-host of As it Happens on CBC Radio One. He starred in the documentaries Making History and Things That Move and hosted the award-winning series Ancestors in the Attic. Douglas has won numerous awards including three Gemini nominations and a Kari Award for his commercial work, which includes playing Joe Canadian in the now legendary "I Am Canadian" campaign.

WHY ATTEND?

This is a rare opportunity to learn about the genre of literary non-fiction and hear personal stories, experiences and views from three of the world's most eloquent and thought provoking writers.

The Charles Taylor Prize is the country's most prestigious literary non-fiction award. Since 2000, the Prize has been a major driving force behind the recognition and growth of Canadian non-fiction.

The presenting sponsor of 2012 The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction is RBC Wealth Management.  The major sponsor is Windfields Farm. Its exclusive newspaper sponsor is The Globe and Mail.  Media sponsors are CBC Books, CNW Group, The Huffington Post Canada, Maclean's magazine, and Quill & Quire magazine; and its In-Kind sponsors are Authors at Harbourfront Centre, Ben McNally Books, Event Source, Indigo Books and Music, Kobo Inc. and The King Edward Hotel.

For more information: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca

SOURCE: Charles Taylor Prize

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates 
Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868 cell: 416-801-3101 [email protected] 
Linda Crane: 905-257-6033 cell: 416-727-0112 [email protected]

Media welcome. Journalists wishing to reserve tickets should contact Stephen Weir & Associates.