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Nature writing celebrated as 2025 Wainwright Prize shortlist announced

As proud partners of the Wainright Prize, we’re delighted to share this year’s shortlist.

Posted 5 min read

The Wainwright Prize is a celebration of nature and conservation writing and, as partners, we’re proud to play our part in introducing some incredible authors to our supporters.  

The Prize was set up in famous fell-walker Alfred Wainwright’s name and reflects the values of celebrating nature and our environment, nurturing respect for our planet, and informing readers of the threats that the earth currently faces.  

Supporting nature writing 

We are also proud that a number of our regular columnists and guest writers for our members’ magazine, The RSPB Magazine, have also been Wainwright Prize nominees. These include: Nicola Chester for On Gallows Down; Dominic Couzens and Gail Ashton for An Insect a Day; David Lindo and Sara Boccaccini Meadows for Fly: A Child's Guide to Birds and How to Spot Them; as well as former RSPB site manager for Wild Haweswater Lee Schofield for Wild Fell.  

The 2025 shortlist

The Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing  

  • The Possibility of Tenderness by Jason Allen-Paisant  

  • Intertidal by Yuvan Aves 

  • Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton  

  • Our Oaken Bones by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison  

  • Of Thorn & Briar by Paul Lamb  

  • The Accidental Garden by Richard Mabey  

  • Ingrained by Callum Robinson  

The Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing 

  • Nature's Genius by David Farrier  

  • Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane  

  • Red Pockets by Alice Mah  

  • Climate Injustice by Friederike Otto & translated by Sarah Pybus 

  • A Training School for Elephants by Sophy Roberts 

  • What the Wild Sea Can Be by Helen Scales 

  • The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole

The Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books 

  • Swoop Sing Perch Paddle by Carry Akroyd & John McEwen 

  • Homecoming by Melissa Harrison & illustrated by Amanda Dilworth 

  • Insectopolis by Peter Kuper 

  • The Perimeter by Quintin Lake 

  • Trees in Winter by Richard Shimell  

  • Feed the Planet by George Steinmetz with Joel K. Bourne Jr. & Michael Pollan  

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Fiction  

  • Ghostlines by Katya Balen 

  • Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold & illustrated by Levi Pinfold  

  • Ettie and the Midnight Pool by Julia Green & illustrated by Pam Smy  

  • Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto 

  • Wildlands by Brogen Murphy 

  • Land of the Last Wildcat by Lui Sit & illustrated by David Dean  

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Non-Fiction  

  • National Trust: Look What I Found by the River by Moira Butterfield & illustrated by Jesús Verona 

  • University of Cambridge: Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare & illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti 

  • MEGA by Jules Howard & illustrated by Gavin Scott  

  • Cloudspotting for Beginners by Gavin Pretor-Pinney & illustrated by William Grill 

  • Wildlife in the Balance by Dr Sharon Wismer & illustrated by Terri Po  

  • Hamza's Wild World by Hamza Yassin & illustrated by Louise Forshaw  

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Picture Books  

  • Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield & illustrated by Hoang Giang  

  • Bothered By Bugs by Emily Gravett  

  • HERD by Stephen Hogtun  

  • The World to Come by Robert Macfarlane & Johnny Flynn, illustrated by Emily Sutton  

  • Frog by Isabel Thomas & illustrated by Daniel Egnéus  

  • Leave the Trees, Please by Benjamin Zephaniah & illustrated by Melissa Castrillon 

  • The Wild by Yuval Zommer  

Why we’re supporting nature writing in the UK 

Celebrating the Wainwright Prize and the books that connect us to nature. 

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