Wainwright Prize

The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and the Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation, with separate longlists and judging panels. It is restricted to books published in the UK.[1] For three years from 2022 the prizes will be sponsored by Kendal paper-makers James Cropper plc and known as the James Cropper Wainwright Prizes.[2] A prize for writing for children was introduced in 2022, the three prizes being the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation and the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation.[3]

The prize celebrates the legacy of British guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright. The prize was established by Frances Lincoln Publishers and The Wainwright Society, in association with the National Trust. It was originally sponsored by Thwaites Brewery, who produced a beer called Wainwright Ale[4] and was later sponsored by Marston's Brewery, who took over Thwaites' production of Wainwright Golden Beer, and sometimes referred to as The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize.[5] In 2020 the prize was no longer sponsored, but was supported by an anonymous benefactor and was "in association with the National Trust".[1] In 2021 the Kendal papermakers James Cropper plc became the prize's "headline sponsors" in a three-year agreement.[6] In 2024 it was announced that the prize would be seeking new sponsorship.[7]

The prize was first awarded in 2014 to Hugh Thomson for his The Green Road into the Trees: A Walk through England. The winner received a cheque for £5,000. With the introduction of two prizes in 2020 the prize money was shared between the two winners,[1] and in 2022 it was increased to £7,500 to be shared between the three winners.[3]

Winners and shortlisted titles

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the book was first published. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a pale background are the other nominees on the shortlist.

  *   Winners

Year Author Book Publisher Notes
2014[8] Hugh Thomson * The Green Road Into The Trees: A Walk through England
Simon Armitage Walking Home
Patrick Barkham Badgerlands
Charlotte Higgins Under Another Sky
Robert Macfarlane The Old Ways
Esther Woolfson Field Notes from a Hidden City
2015[9] John Lewis-Stempel * Meadowland[10]
Richard Askwith Running Free: A Runner's Journey Back to Nature
William Atkins The Moor
Mark Cocker Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet
Helen Macdonald H is for Hawk
Philip Marsden Rising Ground: A Search for the Spirit of Place
2016[11] Amy Liptrot * The Outrun[12]
Rob Cowen Common Ground
Robert Macfarlane Landmarks
Michael McCarthy The Moth Snowstorm
Katharine Norbury The Fish Ladder
James Rebanks The Shepherd's Life
2017[13] John Lewis-Stempel * Where Poppies Blow
Madeleine Bunting Love of Country
Simon Cooper The Otters' Tale
John Lewis-Stempel The Running Hare
Stephen Moss Wild Kingdom
Christopher Somerville The January Man
Clover Stroud The Wild Other
2018[14] Adam Nicolson * The Seabird's Cry
Neil Ansell The Last Wilderness
Alys Fowler Hidden Nature
John Grindrod Outskirts
John Lister-Kaye The Dun Cow Rib
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris The Lost Words
Raynor Winn The Salt Path
2019[15] Robert Macfarlane * Underland
Julia Blackburn Time Song
Juliet Blaxland The Easternmost House
Mark Cocker Our Place
Kate Humble Thinking on My Feet
Isabella Tree Wilding
Luke Turner Out of the Woods
2020:
Global
Cons'n
[16] 		Benedict Macdonald * Rebirding: Restoring Britain's Wildlife
Chris Goodall What We Need to Do Now
Julian Hoffman Irreplaceable
Helen Pilcher Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth
Jeremy Purseglove Working With Nature
Carolyn Steel Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World
2020:
UK
Nature
Writing
[17] 		Dara McAnulty * Diary of a Young Naturalist
Lamorna Ash Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town
David Gange The Frayed Atlantic Edge
Patrick Laurie Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape
Mike Parker On the Red Hill
Jini Reddy Wanderland: A Search for Magic in the Landscape
Brigit Strawbridge Howard Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature
2021:
Global
Cons'n
[18] 		Merlin Sheldrake * Entangled Life
David Attenborough A Life on Our Planet
Cal Flyn Islands of Abandonment
Rebecca Giggs Fathoms: The World in the Whale
Dieter Helm Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change
Elizabeth Kolbert Under a White Sky
2021:
UK
Nature
Writing
[18] 		James Rebanks * English Pastoral: An Inheritance
Charles Foster The Screaming Sky
Charlie Gilmour Featherhood
Marc Hamer Seed to Dust
Kerri ní Dochartaigh Thin Places
Anita Sethi I belong here
Raynor Winn The Wild Silence
2022:
Nature
Writing
[3][19] 		James Aldred * Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other Elliott & Thompson
Nicola Chester On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging Chelsea Green
Matthew Green Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain Faber & Faber
Amy Liptrot The Instant Canongate
Anna Fleming Time on Rock: A Climber’s Route into the Mountains Canongate
Thomas Halliday Otherlands: A World in the Making Allen Lane
2022:
Writing on
Conservation
[3][19] 		Dan Saladino * Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them Jonathan Cape
Alice Bell Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis Bloomsbury Sigma
Dave Goulson Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse Vintage
Oliver Milman The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World Atlantic Books
George Monbiot Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet Allen Lane
Ben Rawlance The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth Jonathan Cape
Lee Schofield Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm Doubleday
2022:Children's
Writing on
Nature and
Conservation[3][19] 		Rob Sears * The Biggest Footprint: Eight billion Humans. One Clumsy Giant Canongate illustrated by Tom Sears
Katya Balen October, October Bloomsbury Children's Books
Nicola Davies One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth Walker Books
Kiran Millwood Hargrave Julia and the Shark Orion Children’s Books illustrated by Tom de Freston
Melissa Harrison By Rowan and Yew Chicken House illustrated by Angela Harding
Ben Lerwill Around the World in 80 Trees Welbeck illustrated by Kaja Kajfež
Dara McAnulty Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature Macmillan Children's Books illustrated by Barry Falls
2023:
Nature
Writing
[20][21] 		Amy-Jane Beer * The Flow: Rivers, Water and Wildness Bloomsbury
Elizabeth-Jane Burnett Twelve Words for Moss Allen Lane
Stephen Moss Ten Birds That Changed the World Faber
Dorthe Nors A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast Pushkin translated by Caroline Waight
Katherine Rundell The Golden Mole: And Other Living Treasure Faber illustrated by Talya Baldwin
Amanda Thomson Belonging: Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home Canongate
2023:
Writing on
Conservation
[20][21] 		Guy Shrubsole * The Lost Rainforests of Britain William Collins
Keggie Carew Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us Canongate
Charles Clover Rewilding the Sea: How to Save Our Oceans Ebury
Sarah Langford Rooted: How Regenerative Farming Can Change the World Viking
Fiona Mathews and Tim Kendall Black Ops and Beaver Bombing: Adventures with Britain’s Wild Mammals Oneworld
Gaia Vince Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval Allen Lane
2023:Children's
Writing on
Nature and
Conservation[20][21] 		Kiran Millwood Hargrave * Leila and the Blue Fox Chicken House illustrated by Tom de Freston
Nicola Davies Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes Walker Books illustrated by Emily Sutton
Olaf Falafel Blobfish Walker Books
M. G. Leonard Spark Walker Books
Dara McAnulty A Wild Child’s Book of Birds MacmillanChildren’s Books illustrated by Barry Falls
Anna Wilson Grandpa and the Kingfisher Nosy Crow illustrated by Sarah Massini
2024:
Nature
Writing[22][23] 		Michael Malay * Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World Manila Press, Bonnier Books
Marchelle Farrell Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside Canongate
Kat Hill Bothy: In Search of Simple Shelter William Collins
Alastair Humphreys Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness Faber
Jessica J. Lee Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging Hamish Hamilton
Olivia Laing The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise Picador
Rebecca Smith Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside William Collins
2024:
Writing on
Conservation
[22][23] 		Helen Czerski * Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World Torva, Transworld
Oliver Franklin-Wallis Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters Simon & Schuster
Chantal Lyons Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar Bloomsbury Wildlife
Tori Tsui It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books
John Vaillant Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton
Sophie Yeo Nature’s Ghosts: The World We Lost and How to Bring it Back HarperNorth/ HarperCollins
2024:
Children's
Writing on
Nature and
Conservation[22][23] 		Katya Balen * Foxlight Bloomsbury Children's
Giselle Clarkson The Observologist Gecko Press
Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin Global Hodder Children's Books illustrated by Giovanni Rigano
Nicola Davies Skrimsli Firefly Press illustrated by Jackie Morris
David Lindo Fly: A Child’s Guide to Birds and Where to Spot Them Magic Cat Publishing illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows
Kiran Millwood Hargrave Geomancer: In The Shadow of the Wolf Queen Orion Children's Books
Katherine Rundell Impossible Creatures Bloomsbury Children's
Isabella Tree Wilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back Macmillan Children's Books illustrated by Angela Harding

References

  1. ^ a b c "Submissions for the 2020 Awards". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Wainwright Prize Sponsorship". James Cropper. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e "James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 shortlists announced". Wainwright Prize. James Cropper plc. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. ^ "The prize celebrates the legacy of British nature writer Alfred Wainwright". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Home page". The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Sponsors & Partners". Wainwright Prize. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  7. ^ Kemp-Habib, Alice (2 April 2024). "Wainwright Prize to part ways with headline sponsor". The Bookseller. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Shortlist 2014". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Shortlist 2015". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  10. ^ "New Literary Prize for Nature & Travel Writing about Britain Launched". thebookseller.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Shortlist 2016". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  12. ^ "The Outrun by Amy Liptrot wins The Wainwright Golden Beer Prize 2016". wainwrightprize.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Shortlist 2017". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Shortlist 2018". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Shortlist 2019". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  16. ^ "2020 Writing on Global Conservation shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  17. ^ "2020 UK Nature Writing shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  18. ^ a b Flood, Alison (7 September 2021). "Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "The James Cropper Wainwright Prize Winners 2022". Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  20. ^ a b c "10th Anniversary Shortlist for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize Announced". Wainwright Prize. James Cropper plc. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  21. ^ a b c "10th James Cropper Wainwright Prize Announces Winner as Wild Places, Remarkable Habitats and Passionate Advocacy for our Planer are Celebrated". Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  22. ^ a b c "The 2024 Wainwright Prize Shortlists Announcement". Wainwright Prize. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  23. ^ a b c "2024 WINNERS ANNOUNCED". Wainwright Prize. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.