Wainwright Prize

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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]

It 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[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

The prize was first awarded in 2014 to Hugh Thomson for his The Green Road Into The Trees: A Walk through England. The winner receives a cheque for £5,000. With the introduction of two prizes in 2020 the prize money is shared between the two winners.[1]

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[5] Hugh Thomson * The Green Road Into The Trees: A Walk through England
Simon Armitage Walking Home
Badgerlands
Charlotte Higgins Under Another Sky
Robert Macfarlane The Old Ways
Esther Woolfson Field Notes from a Hidden City
2015[6] John Lewis-Stempel * Meadowland[7]
Richard Askwith Running Free: A Runner's Journey Back to Nature
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[8] Amy Liptrot* The Outrun[9]
Robert Macfarlane
Michael McCarthy
James Rebanks The Shepherd's Life
2017[10] John Lewis-Stempel *
Madeleine Bunting
John Lewis-Stempel
Stephen Moss Wild Kingdom
2018[11] Adam Nicolson * The Seabird's Cry
The Last Wilderness
Alys Fowler Hidden Nature
John Grindrod Outskirts
John Lister-Kaye The Dun Cow Rib
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Raynor Winn The Salt Path
2019[12] Robert Macfarlane * Underland
Julia Blackburn Time Song
The Easternmost House
Mark Cocker Our Place
Kate Humble Thinking on My Feet
Isabella Tree Wilding
Out of the Woods
2020:
Global
Cons'n
[13] 		* Rebirding: Restoring Britain's Wildlife
Chris Goodall What We Need to Do Now
Irreplaceable
Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth
Working With Nature
Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World
2020:
UK
Nature
Writing
[14] 		Dara McAnulty * Diary of a Young Naturalist
Lamorna Ash Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town
The Frayed Atlantic Edge
Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape
Mike Parker On the Red Hill
Wanderland: A Search for Magic in the Landscape
Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature
2021:
Global
Cons'n
[15] 		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
[15] 		James Rebanks * English Pastoral: An Inheritance
Charles Foster The Screaming Sky
Featherhood
Seed to Dust
Kerri ní Dochartaigh Thin Places
Anita Sethi I belong here
Raynor Winn The Wild Silence

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Submissions for the 2020 Awards". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  2. ^ "The prize celebrates the legacy of British nature writer Alfred Wainwright". Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  3. ^ "Home page". The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Sponsors & Partners". Wainwright Prize. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Shortlist 2014". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Shortlist 2015". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  7. ^ "New Literary Prize for Nature & Travel Writing about Britain Launched". thebookseller.com. thebookseller.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Shortlist 2016". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  9. ^ "The Outrun by Amy Liptrot wins The Wainwright Golden Beer Prize 2016". wainwrightprize.com. wainwrightprize.com. Retrieved 5 Aug 2016.
  10. ^ "Shortlist 2017". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Shortlist 2018". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  12. ^ "Shortlist 2019". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  13. ^ "2020 Writing on Global Conservation shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  14. ^ "2020 UK Nature Writing shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  15. ^ a b Flood, Alison (2021-09-07). "Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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