How does it feel to be a judge on this year’s Wainwright Prize?
I’m thrilled to return as a judge and chair the Conservation panel! It’s great to see all these writers centring the importance of our relationship with nature when it’s at such a pivotal point. The longlist is full of titles I’m excited to read!
What do you think has been the biggest challenge and change in conservation writing in the last 10 years?
For a long time, too much nature and conservation writing has ignored the connections between environmental and social crises. It’s heartening to see more books, media and conversations addressing the fact that we can’t overcome either without the other, and this year’s nominees are a great example.
Why do you believe conservation writing is so important, both for yourself and others?
Story and communication are important and powerful tools of change. We have so much information and data that clearly identify challenges and possible solutions, but these aren’t accessible to everyone. Meaningful change needs as many people as possible to be involved, so the wider we can spread these conversations, the better.
Do you have a favourite conservation book that you’ve read previously that’s deepened your understanding of the natural world?
This might seem like a curveball, but Alan Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing is a powerful alloying of story, visual art, ecological and social themes that I found incredibly compelling. In terms of more traditional writing, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was a major radicalising moment in my young life, setting the stakes for what is at risk on our current path.
Do you have a place you visit that feels intrinsic to your connection with nature?
Whenever I am by the sea, standing with my feet in the water and gazing out at the horizon, I feel the vastness of nature. The constant motion, the constancy and changeability, the sheer amount and variety of life just out of sight, they move me. On a smaller scale, I have a little garden which I maintain as a refuge for nature in an increasingly-hostile urban environment. It warms my heart to see bees buzzing from flower to flower, birds plucking insects from the air and soil, or ants farming aphids in the undergrowth.
What’s your hope for the next 10 years, either for the nature publishing sector or the wider planet as a whole?
I hope we can mend our relationships with nature, money and each other in time to limit the effects of what we’ve already set in motion. This means a fundamental change in what societies and economies value, and will require work from all of us, but the alternative is too dire to take willingly. We can already see things changing at a grassroots level, and we need to translate that to larger-scale change.