Michael Malay, Helen Czerski and Katya Balen win Wainwright Prize 2024

Michael Malay, Helen Czerski and Katya Balen have been awarded the Wainwright Prize 2024 in the categories of Nature Writing, Writing on Conservation and Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation.

The Wainwright Prize is awarded annually to books which most successfully inspire readers to embrace nature and the outdoors and develop a respect for the environment.

The judges said the winning books “highlight the exploration of nature on a global scale through journeys of migration [and] finding beauty in the everyday”, and celebrate “the deep connections between humanity and nature through powerful storytelling”.

Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World by Michael Malay (Manilla Press) won the Nature Writing category, with Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging by Jessica J Lee (Hamish Hamilton) highly commended.

Helen Czerski took home the prize in the Writing on Conservation category for Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World (Torva), with Groundbreakers: The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar by Chantal Lyons (Bloomsbury Wildlife) highly commended by the judges.

Katyen Balen was awarded the prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation for Foxlight (Bloomsbury Children’s). Global by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano (Hodder Children’s Books) was highly commended in this category.

This year’s judging panels were chaired by Dr Khalil Thirlaway (Nature Writing), Joycelyn Longdon (Writing on Conservation) and Roisin Taylor (Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation).

Alastair Giles, director of the Wainwright Prize, said: “A huge congratulations to all our longlisted and shortlisted authors and illustrators, as well as to our three deserving winners. It’s heartwarming to witness the emergence of a new generation of talented writers, exposing the genre and its increasingly salient themes to ever larger and more diverse audiences. The Wainwright Prize remains important as we confront the realities of a world in crisis, but as this year’s winners prove, it is equally important to reflect on finding peace and connection with the natural world and to inspire younger generations to become better environmental stewards than those before them."

The winners were announced at a ceremony at Camley Street Natural Park near Kings Cross in London where a £7,500 prize fund was shared between the three winners.