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Beer, Shrubsole and Hargrave win James Cropper Wainwright Prizes
Amy-Jane Beer, Guy Shrubsole and Kiran Millwood Hargrave have been announced as the winners of this year’s James Cropper Wainwright Prizes.
The prize is named after nature writer Alfred Wainwright and aims to inspire readers to connect with nature and explore the outdoors. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the prize returned to Kendal in the Lake District where Wainwright worked and lived, to host an exclusive festival-style celebration of the prize and its legacy; the winners were announced as part of the celebrations.
The prize for nature writing went to Yorkshire-based biologist Amy-Jane Beer for The Flow: Rivers, Waters and Wildness (Bloomsbury), with Katherine Rundell highly commended in the category for The Golden Mole: and Other Living Treasure, illustrated by Talya Baldwin (Faber).
Alastair Giles, director of the James Cropper Wainwright Prize said of Beer’s win: “Our 2023 Nature Book of the Year winner is regrettably very topical, and every judge absolutely loved the book. The glorious detail and personal experiences, all written in such elegant and beautifully poetic language, was unparalleled.”
Guy Shrubsole won in the writing on conservation category, for The Lost Rainforests of Britain (William Collins). Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince (Allen Lane), was highly commended. The winner in the children’s writing on nature and conservation category was Kiran Millwood Hargrave for Leila and the Blue Fox, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Hachette Children’s Books).
Chair of judges Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, describes Shrubsole’s book as “a highly original, meticulously researched and beautifully written book which takes the reader on a thrilling journey to one of the rarest, most precious habitats to be found in Britain, while also offering some powerful ideas and hope about how the decline of these majestic rainforests might be reversed.
"Shrubsole’s inquisitive, determined, passionate personality shines through, and offers the reader education, inspiration and entertainment from start to finish."
Of Millwood Hargraves’ work, Mark Funnell, chair of judges and communication and campaign director at the National Trust, said: “The interplay between Kiran’s profoundly affecting writing and Tom’s hauntingly beautiful illustrations is uniquely potent, plunging us into the intertwined worlds of family relationships and nature obsession with a visceral impact that readers won’t forget. It’s hard to think of a book that could do more to inspire young people to engage with the natural world, but without extinguishing all hope. Exceptional storytelling, and a triumph of the genre.”
Mark Cropper, chairman of headline sponsors, sustainable paper manufacturer James Cropper, said: “Congratulations and thank you to all the shortlisted authors for their incredible contributions. Working with my fellow judges on identifying the winners has been a real privilege; the process has been enlightening, and I wish all the authors the very best for the future."
A £10,000 prize fund will be shared between the winners, with each receiving a specially commissioned original artwork by dried flower embroiderer, Olga Prinku.
