Prize launched for nature writing by working-class writers

Author and poet Natasha Carthew has launched a nature writing prize, for UK-based writers who self-identify as working class.

Carthew, who has published four books with Bloomsbury and her latest with Quercus, said she set up the prize to "burst the stereotype of what it means to be a nature writer and to celebrate the diversity of authentic voices in our country".

Writers can directly submit up to 1,000 words of fiction, poetry, or a biography before a closing date of 7th June.

The winner of the Nature Writing Prize for Working Class Writers will receive a year's subscription to Little Toller Books worth over £100, editorial feedback and mentoring from Carthew and publication of their work in Countryman Magazine.

"Everybody can be a nature writer and people should not be put off by the image of nature writers and presenters who are usually male, usually white and always middle class. I would love folk to reclaim the wild places that extend beyond the traditional now that lockdown will loosen a little in regards to walks and getting out in the great outdoors," Carthew added.