The Wainwright Prize: Celebrating a Decade of Nature Writing
For a decade, the Wainwright Prize has awarded exceptional nature and conservation writings for adults and children.
In a world increasingly confronted by environmental issues, it is easy to understand the relevance of the Wainwright Prize.
In honor of the late nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the award is backed by the Alfred Wainwright Estate and Frances Lincoln, publisher of the Wainwright Guides. The award ceremony will be hosted in Kendal, England, on September 14 during the Kendal Mountain Festival.
This year, the Wainwright Prize announced three categories: nature writing, conservation writing, and children's writings on nature and conservation. Independent publishers dominate the shortlist, with Walker Books standing out in the children's category.
Nature Writing Shortlist
For the nature writing shortlist, jurors include Ray Mears, James Aldred, the 2022 recipient, Amber Harrison, Charlotte Smith, and Anjana Khatwa.
Featured titles are:
- The Flow: Rivers, Water and Wildness, Amy-Jane Beer (Bloomsbury)
- Twelve Words for Moss, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett (Penguin Random House / Allen Lane)
- Ten Birds that Changed the World, Stephen Moss (Faber & Faber)
- A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast, Dorthe Nors, translated by Caroline Waight (Pushkin)
- The Golden Mole: And Other Living Treasure, Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Talya Baldwin (Faber & Faber)
- Belonging: Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home, Amanda Thomson (Canongate)
Conservation Writing Shortlist
The conservation writing category sees the expertise of jurors Craig Bennett, Mark Cropper, Sir John Lawton, Lee Schofield, and Lucy Siegle.
Shortlisted titles include:
- Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us, Keggie Carew (Canongate)
- Rewilding the Sea: How to Save Our Oceans, Charles Clover (Penguin Random House / Ebury)
- Rooted: How Regenerative Farming Can Change the World, Sarah Langford (Penguin Random House / Viking)
- Black Ops and Beaver Bombing: Adventures With Britain’s Wild Mammals, Fiona Mathews and Tim Kendall (Oneworld)
- The Lost Rainforests of Britain, Guy Shrubsole (HarperCollins / William Collins)
- Nomad Century: How To Survive the Climate Upheaval, Gaia Vince (Penguin Random House / Allen Lane)
Children Category
The children's writing category jurors include Mark Funnell, Ben Shires, Roisin Taylor, Kate McCloskey, and Helen Musselwhite.
Selected titles include:
- Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes, Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton (Walker Books)
- Blobfish, Olaf Falafel (Walker Books)
- Spark, M. G. Leonard (Walker Books)
- A Wild Child’s Book of Birds, Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls (Macmillan Children’s Books)
- Leila and the Blue Fox, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Hachette Children’s Group)
- Grandpa and the Kingfisher, Anna Wilson, illustrated by Sarah Massini (Nosy Crow)
Past winners of the Wainwright Nature Writing Prize include Goshawk Summer by James Aldred (2022), English Pastoral by James Rebanks (2021), and The Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty (2020).
The importance of awards like the Wainwright Prize in a world grappling with environmental crises cannot be overstated. Such platforms spotlight the intricate bond between humanity and nature, urging readers to be more conscious and appreciative of the world around them.