The shortlists for the much-loved Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing and for Global Conservation Writing were announced today, Wednesday 4th August. Named after nature writer Alfred Wainwright, the prizes are awarded to the work which best reflects Wainwright’s core values and includes a celebration of nature and our natural environment, or a warning of the dangers to it across the globe. SNow in its eighth year, the prize is awarded annually to the books which most successfully inspire readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world. 

The two shortlists reflect the breadth and range of contemporary nature writing both in the UK and around the world. The titles selected showcase a diverse group of writers and celebrate the wonder and awe of green spaces and natures’ creatures through the prism of the authors’ lives.

The shortlist for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing is:

 

English Pastoral: An Inheritance, James Rebanks, Penguin Press

Featherhood, Charlie Gilmour, Orion Publishing Group

I Belong Here, Anita Sethi, Bloomsbury

Seed to Dust, Marc Hamer, Vintage

The Screaming Sky, Charles Foster, Little Toller Books

The Wild Silence, Raynor Winn, Michael Joseph

Thin Places, Kerri ni Dochartaigh, Canongate Books

Editorial Expert Liz Robinson adored I Belong Here by Anita Sethi and appointed it as a LoveReading Star Book: "A beautiful, important, and inspiring exploration of our natural world and the author’s sense of belonging within her own country."

The 2021 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation shortlist is:

A Life on Our Planet, David Attenborough, Penguin Random House

Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake, Vintage

Fathoms, Rebecca Giggs, Scribe

Islands of Abandonment, Cal Flyn, HarperCollins

Net Zero: How we Stop Causing Climate Change, Dieter Helm, HarperCollins

Under A White Sky, Elizabeth Kolbert, Vintage

Editorial Expert Liz Robinson thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake: "this absolutely fascinating LoveReading Star Book about the wonder of fungi is quite simply an eye-opening must-read."

This year’s Nature Writing judging panel is chaired by TV presenter Julia Bradbury. Her fellow judges are: Geoff Duffield, Wildlife Trust volunteer and former publisher; Jessica J Lee, Editor WillowHerb Review; Ray Mears, TV Presenter and Author, Mark Funnell, Communications and Campaigns Director, National Trust; Patrick Neale, Bookseller Jaffe & Neale and Andrew Willan, Wealden Festival Director.

The Chair of Judges for the Global Conservation Prize is BBC Countryfile presenter, Charlotte Smith. She is joined by Adrian Phillips, Environmental Professional; Dr. Craig Bennett, CEO UK Wildlife Trust; Rachel Woolliscroft, sustainability expert; Anita Longley, Chair, Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability and Nigel Roby, Community Energy Enthusiast and Strategic Advisor.

Wainwright Prize judge, Communications and Campaigns Director for the National Trust, Mark Funnell said:

“I’m thrilled to be involved with judging this year, it’s a very strong shortlist indeed. And this at a time when people have been turning to nature, more than at any time in living memory. The Wainwright Prize is going from strength to strength, and the National Trust is proud to support it.”

The Wainwright Prize 2021 winners’ ceremony will take place on 7 September 2021 at The London Wetland Centre in Barnes, the UK’s leading wetland conservation charity that protects wetlands and wildlife.