Wainwright Prize
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]
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
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 | Novel | Publisher | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014[4] | Hugh Thomson * | The Green Road Into The Trees: A Walk through England | ||
Simon Armitage | Walking Home | |||
Patrick Barkham | Badgerlands | |||
Charlotte Higgins | Under Another Sky | |||
Robert Macfarlane | The Old Ways | |||
Esther Woolfson | Field Notes from a Hidden City | |||
2015[5] | John Lewis-Stempel * | Meadowland[6] | ||
Richard Askwith | Running Free: A Runner's Journey Back to Nature | |||
William Atkins | 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[7] | Amy Liptrot* | The Outrun[8] | ||
Rob Cowen | Common Ground | |||
Robert Macfarlane | Landmarks | |||
Michael McCarthy | The Moth Snowstorm | |||
Katharine Norbury | The Fish Ladder | |||
James Rebanks | The Shepherd's Life | |||
2017[9] | John Lewis-Stempel * | Where Poppies Blow | ||
Madeleine Bunting | Love of Country | |||
Simon Cooper | The Otters' Tale | |||
John Lewis-Stempel | The Running Hare | |||
Stephen Moss | Wild Kingdom | |||
Christopher Somerville | The January Man | |||
Clover Stroud | The Wild Other | |||
2018[10] | Adam Nicolson * | The Seabird's Cry | ||
Neil Ansell | The Last Wilderness | |||
Alys Fowler | Hidden Nature | |||
John Grindrod | Outskirts | |||
John Lister-Kaye | The Dun Cow Rib | |||
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris | The Lost Words | |||
Raynor Winn | The Salt Path | |||
2019[11] | Robert Macfarlane * | Underland | ||
Julia Blackburn | Time Song | |||
Juliet Blaxland | The Easternmost House | |||
Mark Cocker | Our Place | |||
Kate Humble | Thinking on My Feet | |||
Isabella Tree | Wilding | |||
Luke Turner | Out of the Woods | |||
2020: Global Cons'n [12] |
Benedict Macdonald * | Rebirding: Restoring Britain's Wildlife | ||
Chris Goodall | What We Need to Do Now | |||
Julian Hoffman | Irreplaceable | |||
Helen Pilcher | Life Changing: How Humans are Altering Life on Earth | |||
Jeremy Purseglove | Working With Nature | |||
Carolyn Steel | Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World | |||
2020: UK Nature Writing [13] |
Dara McAnulty * | Diary of a Young Naturalist | ||
Lamorna Ash | Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town | |||
David Gange | The Frayed Atlantic Edge | |||
Patrick Laurie | Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape | |||
Mike Parker | On the Red Hill | |||
Jini Reddy | Wanderland: A Search for Magic in the Landscape | |||
Brigit Strawbridge Howard | Dancing with Bees: A Journey Back to Nature | |||
References
- "Submissions for the 2020 Awards". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- "The prize celebrates the legacy of British nature writer Alfred Wainwright". Retrieved 2015-02-14.
- "Home page". The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- "Shortlist 2014". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "Shortlist 2015". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "New Literary Prize for Nature & Travel Writing about Britain Launched". thebookseller.com. thebookseller.com. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- "Shortlist 2016". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "The Outrun by Amy Liptrot wins The Wainwright Golden Beer Prize 2016". wainwrightprize.com. wainwrightprize.com. Retrieved 5 Aug 2016.
- "Shortlist 2017". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "Shortlist 2018". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "Shortlist 2019". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- "2020 Writing on Global Conservation shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- "2020 UK Nature Writing shortlist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.