Following the announcement of the 2026 Wainwright Prize longlist in July, the judges have whittled this year's hopefuls down to 43 books shortlisted across six categories. The Wainwright Prizes are the UK's foremost nature and conservation writing awards highlighting books that reflect the values of its namesake, Alfred Wainwright. The books showcased each year focus on the celebration of nature and our environment while nurturing respect for our planet and informing about the threats it currently faces. 

Jackie Morris dominates this year's shortlists with three books making the lists, meanwhile former winner Robert Macfarlane holds the record for the most Wainwright Prize nominations by any author since the prize began, with two books shortlisted this year - his seventh and eighth in total. 

Following the decision not to release a longlist this year, we get the first look at who is in contention for the Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books which celebrates the intersection of art, storytelling, and environmental insight.

Of this year’s shortlist, Wainwright Prize ambassador and 2026 host, Henry Bird, says: "Each of the categories for this year's Wainwright Prize reflects the remarkable breadth of stories and ideas explored through environmental literature. Over the past few weeks of reading, I've traversed bogs and scaled treetops, been transported thousands of years into the past and generations ahead to the future, felt pangs of despair at what this world has lost and glimmers of hope at what it stands to gain. With the natural world in crisis, I'd go so far as to say that we need these books, now more than ever." 

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the spectacular Elmley Nature reserve in Kent on Thursday 17th September 2026. In addition to the six individual category winners, the 2026 Wainwright Prize Book of the Year and the 2026 Wainwright Children’s Prize Book of the Year will also be announced. These awards will celebrate two exceptional titles, chosen from the respective category winners. Both overall winners will receive £2,500, with the remaining category winners each awarded £500. 

Find details of the shortlists below. Shop and Save 10%. Every order will donate 25% to a school of your choice, helping to get more books into schools and raise the next generation of readers. 

The Shortlists for the 2026 Wainwright Prize

The Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing:

Ancient: Reviving the Woods That Made Britain by Luke Barley

Ghosts of the Farm: Two Women's Journeys Through Time, Land and Community by Nicola Chester 

Craftland by James Fox 

Love Is A Toad by Lucy Lapwing

The Genius of Trees by Harriet Rix

Stone Lands by Fiona Robertson, illustrated by Philip Harris 

The Cuckoo's Lea by Michael J. Warren

The Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing:

The Savage Landscape by Cal Flyn

Every Last Fish: What Fish Do For Us and What We Do to Them by Rose George

Eat the Planet Well: How to Fix Our Toxic Food System — One Meal at a Time by Dave Goulson

Neurodivergent, by Nature by Joe Harkness

Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them by Dr Julia Shaw

When the Forest Breathes by Suzanne Simard

The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet by Scott Weidensaul

The Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books:

Freshwater: The View from Above and the Life Below by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Bill François

Waterlands: The Coastal Areas of West Sussex and Hampshire Borders by David Gilbey, illustrated by Molly Martin with original photography by Roo Lewis

Wild Folk: Tales from the Stones by Jackie Morris & Tamsin Abbott

The Book of Birds by Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane

Funga Obscura: Photo Journeys Among Fungi by Alison Pouliot

In Botanical Time: The Extraordinary Lifespans of the World's Oldest Living Plants by Christopher Woods

To find out about the Children's Wainwright Prize longlists, head over to LoveReading4Kids.

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Fiction:

The Waters and the Wild by Eilish Fisher, illustrated by David Rooney

The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke and Tammi Hartung, illustrated by Melissa Castrillón

The Lone Husky by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold

Swanfall by Sophie Kirtley

The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales From the Wind in the Willows by M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Polly Dunbar

The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis 

Birdlands by Anthony McGowan, illustrated by Keith Robinson

Tree Thing by Piers Torday, illustrated by Matthew Taylor Wilson

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Non-Fiction:

An Anthology of Remarkable Bugs by Jess French

Letters From Wonderland by Josie George, illustrated by Becky Thorns

Otherlands: An Illustrated Journey Through Earth's Lost Worlds by Thomas Halliday, illustrated by Gavin Scott

Shapes of Nature by Ben Hoare

Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard, illustrated by Gordy Wright

A Wild Child's Guide to Nature at Night by Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls

The Cave Explorer by Kate Winter

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Picture Books:

A River Running Through You by Amy-Jane Beer, illustrated by Elin Manon

The Great Bear by Annie Booker

Whale Song by Nicola Davies & Britta Teckentrup

The Sun Thief by Alice Hemming & Nicola Slater 

Firefly by Robert Macfarlane & Luke Adam Hawker

The Summer Puppy by Jackie Morris & Cathy Fisher

Isla and the Sky by Greg Stobbs

The Whale That Sings in the Deep by Yuval Zommer

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