The Wainwright Prizes, which honour exceptional nature and conservation writing, today announced its longlists across five categories, alongside their independent judging panels. The Prizes spotlight writing and illustration that celebrate the natural world and inspire readers of all ages to protect it.
A total of 68 books have been longlisted across Nature Writing, Conservation Writing, and the three Children’s Prizes — Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Picture Books. The longlists were drawn from over 350 submissions — with children’s submissions up by over 25% on last year. This reflects the breadth, depth and vibrancy of contemporary nature writing, and the growing appetite among young readers and families for stories about the natural world.
This year, the Illustrative Books category will proceed straight to a shortlist rather than a longlist. Following rigorous deliberations, the judges felt that a longlist would not meaningfully distinguish between the strongest entries, and instead elected to spotlight outstanding books that represent the very best of contemporary nature illustration, storytelling and publishing. The titles will be announced at the shortlist stage alongside the shortlists for the other five categories.
The 2026 shortlists will be revealed on 5 August, with the winners announced at a special ceremony on 17 September at Elmley Nature Reserve, hosted by Henry Bird, journalist for The Times, returning Wainwright Prize judge and ambassador for the 2026 campaign. He said: “It’s a real privilege to be joining the Wainwright Prizes this year as ambassador, host and returning judge. As many of us swelter under record temperatures and the rise of AI continues, the longlisted books are a reminder of the vital need for in-depth, unique writing that examines and interrogates our relationship with the natural world. Their pages hum with wonder, curiosity and urgency, and I can’t wait to celebrate these remarkable authors and share their stories with readers over the coming months.”
At the awards ceremony, in addition to the six individual category winners, two outstanding titles will be honoured as the overall winners of The Wainwright Prize: one for adult writing and one for children’s writing. These will be selected from the respective category winners and recognised as the overall Wainwright Prize winner 2026 and the overall Children’s Wainwright Prize winner 2026. The two overall winners will receive £2,500 each, with the remaining category winners each awarded £500.
● Ancient: Reviving the Woods That Made Britain, Luke Barley (Profile Books)
● Ghosts of the Farm: Two Women’s Journeys Through Time, Land and Community, Nicola Chester (Chelsea Green Publishing)
● Craftland, James Fox (The Bodley Head, Vintage)
● My Body Is A Meadow, Bethany Handley (Headline Press)
● The Whispers of Rock: Stories from the Earth, Anjana Khatwa (Little, Brown Book Group / The Bridge Street Press)
● An Inconvenience of Penguins, Jamie Lafferty (Hachette/Wildfire)
● Love Is A Toad, Lucy Lapwing (Blink)
● The Genius of Trees, Harriet Rix (The Bodley Head, Vintage)
● Stone Lands, Fiona Robertson, illustrated by Philip Harris (Little, Brown Book Group / Robinson)
● The Waterlands: Follow a Raindrop from Source to Sea, Stephen Rutt (Elliott & Thompson)
● Being an Oak, Laurent Tillon, translated by Jessica Moore (Ithaka Press)
● Wild Pavements: Exploring Britain’s Cities with an Urban Naturalist, Amanda Tuke (Flint Books)
● The Cuckoo’s Lea, Michael J. Warren (Bloomsbury Publishing / Bloomsbury Wildlife)
● Grasslands: The Intricate Life of Britain’s Hidden Habitats, John Wright (Profile Books)
● The Savage Landscape, Cal Flyn (HarperCollins/William Collins)
● Plastic Inc, Beth Gardiner (Octopus/Monoray)
● Every Last Fish: What Fish Do For Us and What We Do to Them, Rose George (Granta)
● Eat the Planet Well: How to Fix Our Toxic Food System — One Meal at a Time, Dave Goulson (Jonathan Cape, Vintage, PRH)
● Neurodivergent, by Nature, Joe Harkness (Bloomsbury Publishing / Bloomsbury Wildlife)
● Drifting North: Finding a Sustainable Future in Scotland’s Past, Dominic Hinde (Manchester University Press)
● How to Fall in Love with the Future: A Time Traveller’s Guide to Changing the World, Rob Hopkins (Chelsea Green Publishing)
● Wilderlands: The Human History of Wild Britain, Eloise Kane (Faber)
● Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them, Dr Julia Shaw (Canongate Books)
● Frontierlands, Hazel Sheffield (Torva)
● When the Forest Breathes, Suzanne Simard (Allen Lane, Penguin Press)
● The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit (Granta)
● Snö, Sverker Sörlin, translated by Elizabeth DeNoma (Doubleday)
● The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet, Scott Weidensaul (Picador)
● Tadpole Summer, Catherine Bruton (Nosy Crow)
● The Waters and the Wild, Eilish Fisher, illustrated by David Rooney (Penguin Random House Children’s UK Puffin)
● The Green Kingdom, Cornelia Funke and Tammi Hartung, illustrated by Melissa Castrillón (DK flip)
● The Lone Husky, Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
● The Shell Keepers, Truly Johnston (Chicken House)
● Swanfall, Sophie Kirtley (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
● The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales From the Wind in the Willows, M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Polly Dunbar (Farshore, HarperCollins)
● The Danger of Small Things, Caryl Lewis (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
● Birdlands, Anthony McGowan, illustrated by Keith Robinson (Rock the Boat, Oneworld Publications)
● The Monsters at the End of the World, Rebecca Orwin, Oriol Vidal (Penguin Random House Children’s UK Puffin)
● Alyssa and the Enchanted Forest, Alexandra Sheppard, illustrated by Bex Glendining (Faber & Faber)
● The Horse Dreamer, Holly Surplice (Chicken House)
● Tree Thing, Piers Torday, illustrated by Matthew Taylor Wilson (Quercus Children’s Books)
● A Bear Belongs, Catherine Barr, illustrated by Harriet Hobday (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
● Omnibird: An Avian Investigator’s Handbook, Giselle Clarkson (Lerner Publishing Group/Gecko Press)
● Everything You Know About Birds Is Wrong!, Dr Nick Crumpton, illustrated by Gavin Scott (Nosy Crow)
● The Stuff That Stuff Is Made Of, Jonathan Drori, illustrated by Raxenne Maniquiz and Jiatong Liu (Magic Cat Publishing)
● An Anthology of Remarkable Bugs, Jess French (DK Children’s)
● Letters From Wonderland, Josie George, illustrated by Becky Thorns (Faber & Faber)
● Otherlands: An Illustrated Journey Through Earth’s Lost Worlds, Thomas Halliday, illustrated by Gavin Scott (Penguin Random House Children’s UK Puffin)
● You Are Younger Than a Star, Katherine Halligan, Sophia O’Connor (DK Children’s)
● Shapes of Nature, Ben Hoare (DK Children’s)
● Choose Your Own Evolution, Jules Howard, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Nosy Crow)
● Rewild This Book, Lizzie Lomax (Nosy Crow)
● A Wild Child’s Guide to Nature at Night, Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls (Macmillan Children’s Books)
● The Cave Explorer, Kate Winter (Penguin Random House Children’s UK Puffin)
● I Am Big, I Am Small, Vicky Woodgate (Scholastic)
● The Great Oak Tree, Zoë Armstrong & Amelie Videlo (Flying Eye Books)
● A River Running Through You, Amy-Jane Beer, illustrated by Elin Manon (Magic Cat Publishing)
● The Great Bear, Annie Booker (Two Hoots)
● Whale Song, Nicola Davies & Britta Teckentrup (Walker Books)
● The Upside-Down Lighthouse, Paddy Donnelly (The O’Brien Press)
● The Silver Shadow, Mariesa Dulak & Alea Marley (Walker Books)
● The Island of the Bees, Patricia Forde & Paddy Donnelly (Penguin Random House Children’s UK Puffin)
● The Sun Thief, Alice Hemming & Nicola Slater (Scholastic)
● Frank Is a Butterfly, Alex Latimer (Oxford University Press)
● Firefly, Robert Macfarlane & Luke Adam Hawker (Magic Cat Publishing)
● The Summer Puppy, Jackie Morris & Cathy Fisher (Otter-Barry Books)
● Isla and the Sky, Greg Stobbs (Oxford University Press)
● The Whale That Sings in the Deep, Yuval Zommer (Oxford University Press)
This year’s Wainwright Prize judging panels bring together a dynamic mix of voices from across environmental journalism, conservation, literature, education, and the creative industries. Spanning six categories, the judges include authors, illustrators, scientists, campaigners, broadcasters, and thought leaders — each offering a unique lens through which to assess today’s most compelling environmental stories. Their expertise reflects the growing breadth, creativity, and urgency of nature and conservation writing for all ages.
● Michael Malay – Author & University Lecturer
● Alastair Humphreys – Writer & Adventurer
● Kat Hill – Author
● Henry Bird – Journalist, The Times
● Beth Collier – Psychotherapist & Director of Wild in the City
● Hannah Martin – Co-Director of Green New Deal Rising
● Phoebe Weston – Biodiversity Reporter, The Guardian
● Lee Schofield – Ecologist & Author
● Bella Lack – Conservationist, Environmental Activist & Author
● Brendan Montague – Editor, The Ecologist
● Errol Reuben Fernandes – Head of Horticulture, Horniman Museum
● Hannah Peck – Illustrator, Bookmaker & Educator
● Harry Skeggs – Award-winning Wildlife Photographer
● Jack Baker – Host & Creator of Pangolin: The Conservation Podcast
● Francesca Willow – Writer, Artist & Climate Campaigner
● Mya Rose-Craig – Ornithologist, Activist & Author
● Tim Herbert – Editor, National Geographic Kids Magazine
● Julie Collini – Bookseller, Sevenoaks Bookshop
● Dinny Smith – National Literacy Trust
● Fiona Hickley – Executive Director, World Book Day
● Abi Elphinstone – Author
● Jennifer Bell – Bookseller of the Year & Author
● Imogen Russell Williams – Children’s Book Critic for TLS, The Guardian
● Ash Bhardwaj – Broadcast Journalist, Author & Storyteller
● Mariajo Ilustrajo – Author & Illustrator
● Alex Try – RSPB Director of Communications
● Mikey Please – Author & Illustrator
The Wainwright Prize was founded, and is still supported by, both the Alfred Wainwright Estate and Frances Lincoln, publisher of the Wainwright Guides, and is grateful to its partners and supporters, whose shared commitment to connecting people with nature helps make the Prize possible. The Prize continues to be supported by The RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, National Geographic Kids, World Book Day, The National Literacy Trust and The National Trust, whose ongoing partnership plays a vital role in supporting the Prize’s mission to inspire a deeper connection with the natural world.