We’re looking forward to reading the works of the 2024 Wainwright Prize winners. Congratulations to Michael Malay for Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World, Helen Czerski for Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes our World and Katya Balen for Foxlight.
The Wainwright Prize recognises the best writing on nature and conservation. The RSPB is a proud supporting partner of the competition.
Inspired to put pen to paper yourself? Here are three tips from Benedict MacDonald, who won the 2020 Conservation category for his book Rebirding: Restoring Britain’s Wildlife:
Immerse yourself in nature. Photo: Abigail Luxford-Noyes (rspb-images.com)
Spend time in the field
Really immerse yourself in your subject matter. For my book, I spent a lot of time in the UK landscape before heading to northern and eastern Europe.
A Silver-studded Blue butterfly on Bell Heather. Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
Write accessibly, but research intensively
Your writing needs to be easily understood when you’re communicating complex scientific ideas. You need high-quality, credible science to back up your writing. I include references at the back of my books.
Paint a picture with words. Photo: Sam Turley (rspb-images.com)
Paint pictures in the readers’ minds
I find people who love nature are often visual learners, so you need to bring the concepts you’re describing to life. What would a restored landscape look like?
Let’s get literary
Are you a budding nature writer? Or do you just love a book about the natural world? Learn more about the Wainwright Prize on the organisation’s website – you can watch the 2024 awards ceremony, learn about this year’s winners, buy Wainwright Prize merchandise and sign up for the newsletter so you can find out how to submit your own work for 2025 (if you’re so inclined).
Barn Owl. Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
