At FarmED, a not-for-profit farming and food systems education centre in Oxfordshire, on the 10th September, the winners of the Wainwright Prizes were announced.
A celebration of nature and conservation writing, the Wainwright Prize has a new look this year, expanding to six prizes that celebrate writing that spotlights the natural world while inspiring readers of all ages to protect it.
As well as celebrating the exceptional writing on display, the Wainwright Prize highlights the latest thoughts on environmental issues. This often helps to shape trends and inspire action as the category winners spark important conversations. From greater transparency in large-scale land ownership to an eye-opening look at feeding a growing population; powerful messages about the importance of protecting wild spaces and the relationships between humanity and the natural world; to inspiring wonder and helping readers to forge connections with one of nature's smallest yet most important creatures.
From a total of 69 longlisted books across the six categories, the independent judging panels whittled the titles down to a strong 39-book shortlist. Now we have our winners. Keep scrolling to find out more.
The Winners for the 2025 Wainwright Prize
The 2025 Wainwright Prize Book of the Year
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
The 2025 Wainwright Prize Children’s Book of the Year
Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield & illustrated by Hoang Giang
The Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
The Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing
The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole
The Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books
Feed the Planet by George Steinmetz with Joel K. Bourne Jr. & Michael Pollan
The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Fiction
Wildlands by Brogen Murphy
The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Non-Fiction
University of Cambridge: Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare & illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti
The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Picture Books
Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield & illustrated by Hoang Giang
The Wainwright Prizes
The two overall winning books received a prize of £2,500, with the picture book award jointly shared by its author and illustrator. Category winners were each awarded £500 per book.
The Wainwritght Prize Judges
The judging chairs for each category this year included author and bookshop owner, Luke Sherlock (Nature Writing); biologist and Natural History Museum podcast host Dr Khalil Thirlaway (Conservation); author and ecologist Lee Schofield (Illustrative); evolutionary biologist and broadcaster Ella Al-Shamahi (Children’s non-fiction); children's writer Uju Asika (Children’s fiction), and Blue Peter Presenter Mwaka "Mwaksy" Mudenda (Children’s picture books).
The overall winners were chosen by an executive panel, including the Prize Director and subject specialists, and drawing on recommendations of the category judging panels.
The Wainwright Prize Book of the Year
The Wainwright Prize Book of the Year was claimed by the Nature Writing category winner Chloe Dalton for Raising Hare. A popular awards choice, Raising Hare has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2024, The Hatchards and Biographers' Club First Biography Prize and the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction as well as being a book of the year for the Hay Festival.
Author Chloe Dalton lives between London and the English Countryside and her book charts her transformative journey from London professional to raising a leveret (post author's note: baby hare) in the countryside during the Covid lockdown.
Judging chair for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, Luke Sherlock, chose Dalton’s ‘soulful’ debut Raising Hare as the Nature Writing category winner. He says “A whole new audience will be inspired by the intimate storytelling of Chloe Dalton. Raising Hare is a warm and welcoming book that invites readers to discover the joy and magic of the natural world. As gripping and poignant as a classic novel, there is little doubt this will be read for years and decades to come.”
To find out more visit http://wainwrightprize.com/
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