The Wainwright Prize, which aims to celebrate nature and our environment and inform readers of the threats the earth currently faces, announces their 2024 longlists today.
Approaching its second decade amidst ongoing conversations around our environment – reflected in the continued growth in the publishing of nature and conservation writing – The Wainwright Prize’s role in amplifying these conversations is as urgent as ever. With a new government now in office, The Wainwright Prize hopes to provide a platform to bring many of the issues covered in the longlist to the forefront of political discourse.
A total of 35 books have been longlisted across the Prize’s three categories –the Prize for Nature Writing, the Prize for Writing on Conservation, and the Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation. Each longlist was selected from submissions that demonstrated the diversity and strength of nature writing, including authors such as Olivia Laing, Rebecca Smith, Hamza Yassin, Caroline Lucas, Marchelle Farrell, Katherine Rundell and Eoin Colfer.
“As we enter The Wainwright Prize’s second decade, the necessity to showcase and celebrate the very best of Nature and Conservation Writing has only strengthened. Although the plight of nature has never been more troubling, we have also witnessed a wave of enthusiasm from readers over the few years, and we hope that The Wainwright Prize can fulfil its role to motivate people to reconnect with the environment, both physically and intellectually. We can’t wait to find out which books from our 2024 longlists will be shortlisted later this summer before we choose our eventual winners.’
Alastair Giles, Prize Director
The 2024 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing Longlist
- Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better, Polly Atkin (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton)
- The Lost Paths: A History of How We Walk from Here to There, Jack Cornish (Michael Joseph)
- Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside – Finding Home in an English Country Garden, Marchelle Farrell (Canongate)
- Hunt for the Shadow Wolf: The Lost History of Wolves in Britain and the Myths and Stories that Surround Them, Derek Gow (Chelsea Green Publishing)
- Hedgelands: A Wild Wander Around Britain’s Greatest Habitat, Christopher Hart (Chelsea Green Publishing)
- Bothy: In Search of Simple Shelter, Kat Hill (William Collins)
- Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness, Alastair Humphreys (Eye Books)
- Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging, Jessica J. Lee (Hamish Hamilton)
- The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise, Olivia Laing (Picador)
- Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World, Michael Malay (Manilla Press, Bonnier Books)
- Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside, Rebecca Smith (William Collins)
- Be a Birder: My Love of Birdwatching and How to Get Started, Hamza Yassin (Gaia)
The 2024 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation Longlist
- Where Are the Fellows Who Cut the Hay? How Traditions From the Past Can Shape our Future, Robert Ashton (Unbound)
- Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Our Future, Ed Conway (WH Allen, Ebury)
- Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World, Helen Czerski (Torva, Transworld)
- Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters, Oliver Franklin-Wallis (Simon & Schuster Ltd)
- Another England: How to Reclaim Our National Story, Caroline Lucas (Hutchinson Heinemann)
- Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar, Chantal Lyons (Bloomsbury Wildlife)
- Move Like Water: A Story of the Sea and its Creatures, Hannah Stowe (Granta)
- It’s Not Just You: How to Navigate Eco-Anxiety and the Climate Crisis, Tori Tsui (Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books)
- Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World, John Vaillant (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton)
- Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation, Hugh Warwick (Bloomsbury Wildlife)
- Nature’s Ghosts: The World We Lost and How to Bring it Back, Sophie Yeo (HarperNorth/ HarperCollins)
The 2024 Wainwright Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation Longlist
- Foxlight, Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s)
- The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions, Giselle Clarkson (Gecko Press)
- Global: A Graphic Novel Adventure About Hope in the Face of Climate Change, Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano (Hodder Children’s Books)
- Skrimsli, Nicola Davies, Illustrated by Jackie Morris (Firefly Press)
- The Golden Hare, Paddy Donnelly (The O’Brien Press)
- Finding Bear, Hannah Gold, Illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s)
- Fly, David Lindo, Illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows (Magic Cat Publishing)
- Geomancer: In The Shadow of the Wolf Queen, Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Orion Children’s Books)
- The Panda’s Child, Jackie Morris, Illustrated by Cathy Fisher (Otter-Barry Books)
- Quiet, Tom Percival, Illustrated by Richard Jones (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
- Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury Children’s)
- Wilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back – An Illustrated Guide, Isabella Tree, Illustrated by Angela Harding (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The judging panels for our three categories bring together industry expertise, experience from some of the UK’s largest nature charities, authors, activists, booksellers, and scientific researchers.
The Nature Writing Prize judging panel is chaired by Biologist and Natural History Museum Podcaster, Dr Khalil Thirlaway; Joycelyn Longdon, PhD student at Cambridge University and Founder of Climate in Colour is the Chair of Judges for Writing on Conservation; and Roisin Taylor, Co-Director at UK Youth for Nature, chairs the Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation. The full judging panels for each category are:
Nature Writing Prize
Soraya Abdel-Hadi – Writer, Coach, and Founder of All the Elements
Ash Bhardwaj – Travel Writer, Filmmaker and Storyteller
Karen Brazier – Co-owner of FOLDE Bookshop
Katrina Clarke – Bookseller at Mr B’s Emporium, Bath
Lee Schofield – Naturalist and Nature Writer
Dr Khalil Thirlaway – Biologist, Presenter and Natural History Museum Podcaster
Conservation Prize
Craig Bennet – CEO of Wildlife Trust
Mark Funnell – Communications and Campaigns Director at National Trust
Fatima Ibrahim – Co-Executive Director of Green New Deal
Joycelyn Longdon – PhD Student and Founder of Climate in Colour
Tristram Stuart – Author and Activist
Alex Try – RSPB Director of Strategic Communications
Children’s Prize
Joanna Adeyinka-Burford – CBeebies Presenter
Uju Asika – Children’s Author and Consultant
Dan Green – Editor of The Week Junior
Konnie Huq – Blue Peter Presenter and Children’s Author
Frann Preston Gannon – Children’s Illustrator and Author
Roisin Taylor – Co-Director at UK Youth for Nature
Emily Wainwright is announced as the official Wainwright Prize Artist for 2024.
The Wainwright Prize is working in close partnership with designer and illustrator Emily Wainwright to develop bespoke illustrations that will be threaded throughout this year’s visual campaign. It’s not just the artist’s name that is fitting for the Prize, as Emily’s design work is centred around intricate illustrations of plants and botanicals. Having felt a desire to understand plants and botany in more depth, Emily has studied both Garden Design and Horticulture with the RHS and is a great believer in the benefits of spending time in nature and helping others to grow their own flourishing gardens. On working with The Wainwright Prize, Emily Wainwright commented:
‘I’m thrilled to be working on The Wainwright Prize. I believe nature should be front and centre of all we do and that we can learn so much from the world around us – not just in the study of the natural world, but also in the simple enjoyment of its magic. To be able to support in celebrating Nature writers across the globe is a privilege. I’m excited to be part of the journey!’
The Prize’s shortlists will be announced on 15th August, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday 11th September at the Camley Street Natural Park, near Kings Cross in London.
The prize was founded and is still supported by, both the Alfred Wainwright Estate & Frances Lincoln, publisher of the Wainwright Guides. The £7,500 prize fund will be shared and presented to the authors of the three winning books.
