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For nineteen months, while in her mid-twenties,
“Chasing Lemurs is a riveting journey into one
of our planet’s most imperiled biodiversity hotspots. With the irrepressible
spirit and sure voice of a hardened traveler, McGoogan exposes the physical and
mental toll that remote scientific field work can take upon the scientist, and
how moments of epiphany in the wild are made all the richer for it. The
adventure of a lifetime. Recommended for all primate fans, and anyone who has
ever dreamed of studying animals in the wild.”
–Andrew Westoll, author of The Chimps of Fauna
Sanctuary
"Keriann McGoogan weaves a gritty and
truthful tale that immerses readers in the remote, dangerous, and
uncomfortable world of expeditionary fieldwork.
The intense narrative reveals the wonders of a lost world and
the sacrifices made in the name of research. Her confessions of
self-doubt and uncertainty will resonate with anyone facing life's
challenges or choosing to take the road less traveled."
–Jill Heinerth, author of Into The
Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver
“Keriann McGoogan has given us a fascinating
adventure story that is also a superb travelogue, field guide, and
social portrait of one of the world's least-known, yet truly exotic
countries. A reader could hardly ask for a more encompassing overview of
Madagascar or a clearer description of its increasingly threatened ecology.
Importantly, the reader is left with the terrible realization of how badly
humans have treated our fellow primates -- the many and intriguingly various
species of lemurs, who are endemic to this African island. McGoogan’s 's book
is fundamentally a call to action to protect these complex and endangered
creatures, and she has succeeded admirably.”
–Geoff White, Canadian chargé d'affaires to
Madagascar, 2010-2013
“An honest and suspenseful account of the challenges of wildlife research, Keriann McGoogan’s book shatters all the romantic illusions of doing science in a remote tropical location. Her story is a must read for any wildlife enthusiast considering embarking on a career in the field, or for any conservation-minded individual curious about the difficulties field researchers sometimes endure. McGoogan rose to the seemingly insurmountable challenges and persevered. As a result, she has made substantial strides in what has become a very rewarding career in both primate research and conservation”.
“An honest and suspenseful account of the challenges of wildlife research, Keriann McGoogan’s book shatters all the romantic illusions of doing science in a remote tropical location. Her story is a must read for any wildlife enthusiast considering embarking on a career in the field, or for any conservation-minded individual curious about the difficulties field researchers sometimes endure. McGoogan rose to the seemingly insurmountable challenges and persevered. As a result, she has made substantial strides in what has become a very rewarding career in both primate research and conservation”.
–Dr. Brian Keating, presenter/producer
greatBIGnature.com & owner of goingwild.org
(Chasing Lemurs, published by Prometheus Books of New York, will be released everywhere on April 14.
Sounds dangerously radical, I know. But that,
I'm afraid, is today's burning question. It surfaces here because a fabulous writers' conference
is coming to Toronto and I play a small part in it.
The annual gathering of the Creative Nonfiction
Collective will take place at the University of Toronto (Emmanuel College) from
May 8 to 10. Born in the Wild West (OK, Banff) some 16 years ago, the CNFC will
attract writers from across the land.
The Friday night keynote speaker is Ian Brown,
whose books include Sixty and The Boy in the Moon. Trust me, he is one heckuva speaker. And the program is jam-packed with CNF writers of all kinds -- memoirists, essay-writers, narrative historians -- as well as a public relations consultant, a
publisher-agent, an online marketing strategist, you name it. Here, check it out.
As for F*cking With Narrative, well, that’s what we'll explore in my Saturday workshop. When research-based story-telling drives you towards third-person omniscience, suddenly you find yourself facing stop signs and roadblocks. You can’t
do this, you can’t do that.
Narrative is f*cking with you.
Or maybe your story
cries out for scene but the biographical record presents nothing. Nada. What to do? No worries. These problems have technical solutions. In this craft-oriented
workshop, we’ll look at best strategies, among them transparency, implied
stream of consciousness, multiple flashbacks, and The Rolling Now. We’ll do
some on-the-spot freewriting. Master these moves, it says here, and you’ll be break-dancing with story. Yup, you’ll be f*cking with narrative.
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