The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best works of Nature writing, conservation, and environmental writing. Beginning in 2025 there were six categories: Nature Writing, Conservation Writing, Illustrative Books, Children's Fiction, Children's Non-Fiction, and Children's Picture Books. Each has separate longlists and judging panels. Category winners become eligible to win the overall prizes, the Wainwright Prize Book of the Year and the Wainwright Children's Prize Book of the Year. Nominations are restricted to books published in the UK.
History
The prize celebrates the legacy of British guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright. It was established in 2013 by Frances Lincoln Publishers and The Wainwright Society, in association with the
National Trust. Originally the prize was sponsored by
Thwaites Brewery, who produced a beer called Wainwright Ale
and was later sponsored by Marston's Brewery, who took over Thwaites' production of Wainwright Golden Beer, and thus the prize was sometimes referred to as
The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize.
In 2020 the prize was no longer sponsored, but was supported by an anonymous benefactor and was "in association with the National Trust".
In 2024 it was announced that the prize would be seeking new sponsorship.
The prize was first awarded in 2014 to Hugh Thomson for his The Green Road into the Trees: A Walk Through England. The winner received a cheque for £5,000. With the introduction of two prizes in 2020 the prize money was shared between the two winners,
Winners and shortlisted titles
In the following tables, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the book was first published. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the writer's name have won the award; those with a pale background are the other nominees on the shortlist.
* Winners
2014–2019: One prize
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| Granta |
| Vintage |
| Penguin |
| Granta |
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| Faber & Faber |
| Vintage |
| Vintage |
| Granta |
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| Penguin |
| John Murray Press |
| Bloomsbury |
| Penguin |
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| William Collins |
| Black Swan |
| Vintage |
| Black Swan |
| Hodder & Stoughton |
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| Hodder & Stoughton |
| Hodder & Stoughton |
| Canongate |
| Hamish Hamilton |
| Penguin |
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| Sandstone |
| Vintage |
| Octopus Books |
| Picador |
| Weidenfeld and Nicolson |
2020–2021: Two prizes
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| Penguin |
| Bloomsbury Sigma |
| Profile Books |
| Vintage |
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| William Collins |
| Birlinn General |
| Windmill |
| Bloomsbury Wildlife |
| Chelsea Green |
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| William Collins |
| Scribe Publications |
| William Collins |
| Vintage |
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| Orion |
| Vintage |
| Canongate |
| Bloomsbury Wildlife |
| Penguin |
2022–2024: Addition of a children's prize
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| Faber & Faber |
| Canongate |
| Canongate |
| Allen Lane |
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| Vintage |
| Atlantic Books |
| Allen Lane |
| Jonathan Cape |
| Doubleday |
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| Walker Books |
| Orion Children's Books |
| Chicken House |
| Welbeck |
| Macmillan Children's Books |
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| Faber |
| Pushkin |
| Faber |
| Canongate |
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| Ebury |
| Viking |
| Oneworld |
| Allen Lane |
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| Walker Books |
| Walker Books |
| Macmillan Children's Books |
| Nosy Crow |
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| William Collins |
| Faber |
| Hamish Hamilton |
| Picador |
| William Collins |
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| Bloomsbury Wildlife |
| Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books |
| Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton |
| HarperNorth/ HarperCollins |
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| Hodder Children's Books |
| Firefly Press |
| Magic Cat Publishing |
| Orion Children's Books |
| Bloomsbury Children's |
| Macmillan Children's Books |
2025: Six prize categories
In 2025, the Wainwright Prize was restructured to award books across six categories, each falling under one of two overall Prizes: the
Wainwright Prize Book of the Year and the
Wainwright Children's Prize Book of the Year. Only winners in individual categories are eligible to win the overall Prizes. In the following table, a blue background indicates a category winner, a green background indicates an overall winner and a pale background indicates a shortlisted nominee.
Submissions for the 2025 prizes closed on 6 March 2025. The longlists were announced in July 2025; the shortlists were announced on 5 August
* Category winners
‡ Overall winners
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| Bonnier Books |
| Witness Books |
| Simon & Schuster |
| Profile Books |
| Penguin |
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| Hamish Hamilton |
| Allen Lane |
| Greystone Books |
| Doubleday |
| Atlantic Books |
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| Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
| W. W. Norton & Company |
| Hutchinson Heinemann, Penguin |
| Sphere |
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| HarperCollins |
| David Fickling Books |
| Pushkin Children’s Books |
| Macmillan Children’s Books |
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| Nosy Crow |
| Particular Books |
| Flying Eye Books |
| Macmillan Children’s Books |
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| Bloomsbury Children’s Books |
| Magic Cat Publishing |
| Bloomsbury Children's Books |
| Magic Cat Publishing |
| Oxford University Press |
External links
