Arvon Foundation joins Gaia in sponsoring Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Authors

The Arvon Foundation and Campaign for National Parks have joined Octopus imprint Gaia Books as sponsors of this year’s Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers.

Set up in 2020 by writer Natasha Carthew, the prize is free to enter and encourages self-identifying working-class writers from all over the UK, whether they live in the country or towns and cities.

Helen Meller, co-director of Arvon at Home and Lumb Bank, said: “Arvon is delighted to be sponsoring the Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers. We are committed to championing diverse regional voices and this prize is the perfect place to do just that.” 

On 16th June, Carthew will be launching the prize as part of a panel event at the Nature Festival during the Bristol Festival of Ideas. 

She said: “It’s important to me that this prize is accessible, breaking down barriers and providing a platform to celebrate the diversity that exists in nature writing, whether it’s non-fiction, poetry, field notes, memoir or travelogue; celebrating nature while providing a platform for underrepresented writers.”

Stephanie Jackson, publisher at Octopus Publishing Group, said: “What I love about the Nature Prize for Working Class Writers is that it is very much a grass roots initiative – entrants self-identify as working class and are unpublished in book form, and entries can be submitted in any literary category as long as they are previously unpublished.

“This is about giving real encouragement plus platform, insight and exposure to folks in the very earliest stages of their writing careers, who might feel that literary prizes (or writing, or nature) aren’t as accessible as they should be.”

Laura Williams, campaign and communications manager at Campaign for National Parks, also said her organisation was delighted to also be sponsoring the prize, “which fits beautifully with our wider work and we very much look forward to supporting more writers from working-class backgrounds.”  

The winner of the prize will receive one year’s free membership to Campaign for National Parks, a £300 paid commission to write a National Parks inspired piece for Viewpoint Magazine, an Arvon course, a one-hour mentoring sessions with a Gaia commissioner and a book bundle from Octopus Publishing Group. Runners up will also receive an Octopus bundle.

Submissions are open until 5th September 2022. More information can be found here.