The Wainwright Prize announced its 2024 shortlist on Wednesday 15 August. The shortlist covers three categories: Nature Writing, Writing on Conservation, and For Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation. The prize is named after fell-walker and author Alfred Wainwright, and focuses on celebrating nature and the environment, respect for the planet, and informing readers.
For Nature Writing, the shortlist is:
- Alastair Humphreys’s Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness
- Jessica J. Lee’ Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging
- Kat Hill’s Bothy: In Search of Simple Shelter
- Marchelle Farrell’s Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside – Finding Home in an English Garden
- Michael Malay’s Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World, illustrated by Andy Lovell
- Olivia Laing’s The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise
- Rebecca Smith’s Rural: The Lives of the Working Class
The Judges are: booksellers Karen Brazier and Katrina Clarke; writers Soraya Abdel-Hadi, Ash Bhardwaj and Lee Schofield; and, as chair, science communicator Dr Khalil Thirlaway.
On this shortlist, Lee Schofield said:
“This year’s Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing Shortlist is nothing less than extraordinary. The shortlisted authors bring uniquely diverse perspectives, exploring our relationship with the non-human world in genuinely breathtaking ways.”
For Writing on Conservation, the shortlist is:
- Chantal Lyons’s Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar
- Helen Czerski’s Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World
- John Vaillant’s Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World
- Oliver Franklin-Wallis’s Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters
- Sophie Yeo’s Nature’s Ghosts: The World We Lost and How to Bring it Back
- Tori Tsui’s It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis
The Judges are: activist Fatima Ibrahim; author Tristram Stuart; conservationists Craig Bennett, Mark Funnell and Alex Try; and, as chair, environmental justice researcher Joycelyn Longdon.
On the shortlist, Mark Funnell said:
“Any one of these books would be a worthy winner. Not only do they speak to some of the most pressing crises facing humanity today, but they also pack a real punch – white-knuckle page turners, deeply affecting testimonies, excoriating exposes. Buckle up.”
For Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation, the shortlist is:
- David Lindo’s Fly: A Child’s Guide to Birds and Where to Spot Them illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows
- Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin’s Global
- Giselle Clarkson’s The Observologist,
- Isabella Tree’s Wilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back illustrated by Angela Harding
- Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures
- Katya Balen’s Foxlight
- Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s Geomancer: In The Shadow of the Wolf Queen
- Nicola Davies’s Skrimsli illustrated by Jackie Morris
The Judges are: authors Uju Asika, Frann Preston Gannon and Dan Green; TV presenters Joanna Adeyinka-Burford and Konnie Huq; and, as chair, conservationist Roisin Taylor.
On the shortlist, Uju Asika said:
“Each one of these shortlisted books stood out for its literary excellence, offering something unique in terms of writing voice, art style, unforgettable characters, danger, and humour. Each one evokes nature at its wildest and most wondrous and made me feel like (or want to be) a better human being for having read it.”
The winners of the Wainwright Prize 2024 will be announced at a ceremony at Camley Street Natural Park in London on 11 September. A prize fund of £7,500 will be shared amongst the winners.
Words by Ed Bedford
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