Longlists for Wainwright Prize and new Global Conservation Writing Award unveiled

The longlist for this year's Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing has been revealed, including books by Dara McAnulty, Katherine May and Alice Vincent (see below for full listings). 

A new award for Writing on Global Conservation has also been announced, with its own longlist (see below).

The Nature Writing Award is given annually to the book which most successfully inspires readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world. It will be judged by a panel chaired by TV presenter Julia Bradbury, with ex-publisher and Wildlife Trust volunteer Geoff Duffield, Wealden Festival director Andrew Willan, bookseller Patrick Neale, Jessica J Lee and National Trust communications director Celia Richardson.

The new Global Conservation Prize judging panel will be chaired by “Countryfile” presenter Charlotte Smith together with naturalist Chris Packham, author John Lewis Stempel, conservationist Adrian Phillipps, sustainability expert Rachel Woolliscroft and c.e.o of UK Wildlife Trusts Craig Bennett.

Packham said: "I'm thrilled to be involved with the Wainwright Prize this year. More than any other time I've known, it's a real pleasure to indulge in two of my great loves: the outdoors and reading. Both have given me, and I'm sure so many people in such an uncertain time, not only pleasure but a heightened sense of perspective as we seek reassurance and some form of connectedness. Checking in with the natural world, the positive influence it can have on your life and what we MUST do to protect it has never been more important."

The prize shortlists will be announced on 30th July and the winners announcement on 27th August.  The prize is supported by White Lion Publishing and the Wainwright Estate in partnership with the National Trust. The £5,000 prize fund will be shared and presented to authors of the winning books.

The 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing longlist:

• Bird Therapy by Joe Harkness (Unbound)
• Dancing with Bees by Brigit Strawbridge Howard (Chelsea Green Publishing)
• Dark, Salt, Clear by Lamorna Ash (Bloomsbury)
• Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty (Little Toller Books)
• Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape by Patrick Laurie (Birlinn Ltd)
• On the Red Hill by Mike Parker (Cornerstone)
• Rootbound by Alice Vincent (Canongate)
• Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie (Sort of Books)
• The Frayed Atlantic Edge by David Gange (William Collins)
• The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith (William Collins)
• Wanderland by Jini Reddy (Bloomsbury)
• Wild Child by Patrick Barkham (Granta)
• Wintering by Katherine May (Ebury)

The 2020 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation longlist:

• Bloom: From Food to Fuel by Ruth Kassinger (Elliot & Thompson)
• Greenery by Tim Dee (Vintage)
• Harvest by Edward Posnett (Viking)
• Irreplaceable by Julian Hoffman (Hamish Hamilton)
• Life Changing by Helen Pilcher (Bloomsbury)
• Losing Eden by Lucy Jones (Penguin)
• Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell (Granta Books)
• Rebirding by Benedict Macdonald (Pelagic)
• Sitopia by Carolyn Steel (Vintage)
• What We Need to Do Now by Chris Goodall (Profile Books)
• Working with Nature by Jeremy Purseglove (Profile Books)