JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022 WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Attenborough cameraman, James Aldred; BBC R4 presenter Dan Saladino; and writer/illustrator brothers Rob and Tom Sears are prize winners for books that celebrate the beauty of the natural world, and offer hope for our planet.
The winners of the three categories of the 2022 JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE were announced at a ceremony at the London Wetland Centre.
The ceremony included panel discussions with the short-listees across all three award categories: Nature Writing; Writing on Conservation and Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation, before the winners were announced by their respective Chairs of Judges, TV presenters Ray Mears, Charlotte Smith and Gemma Hunt.
JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING:
WINNER: Goshawk Summer: The Diary of an Extraordinary Season in the Forest by James Aldred (Elliott & Thompson).
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Otherlands: A World in the Making by Dr Thomas Halliday (Allen Lane) and On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging by Nicola Chester (Chelsea Green Publishing).
JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON CONSERVATION:
WINNER: Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino (Jonathan Cape).
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm by Lee Schofield (Doubleday).
JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CHILDREN’S WRITING ON NATURE AND CONSERVATION:
WINNER: The Biggest Footprint: Eight Billion Humans. One Clumsy Giant by Rob and Tom Sears (Canongate).
HIGHLY COMMENDED: 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal winner, October, October by Katya Balen, Illustrated by Angela Harding (Bloomsbury).
Now in its ninth year, the Prize is named after much-loved nature writer Alfred Wainwright and is awarded annually to the books which most successfully inspire readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world. A £7,500 prize fund will be shared by the authors of the three winning books, with each receiving a specially commissioned original artwork by paper artist, Helen Musselwhite.
ABOUT THE WINNER OF THE NATURE WRITING PRIZE:
James Aldred, is a wildlife cameraman who has collaborated with David Attenborough, won the Nature Writing Prize for his acutely observed lockdown nature diary, Goshawk Summer. Aldred captures, in minute detail, the day-to-day drama in an avian predator’s nest, celebrating the wonder of the natural world and inspiring readers to explore and protect the nature on their own doorsteps.
Chair of judges, TV presenter Ray Mears commented:
"There was a stunning collection of books to choose from on our shortlist. So much so, that we felt compelled to highly commend not one but two great books. In the end we decided to hand the prize to a beautiful inspirational tale set in an extraordinary time. Nature is abundant all around us, if only we could take the time to REALLY look for it. This wonderful book shows us how."
ABOUT THE WINNER FOR WRITING ON CONSERVATION:
BBC Radio 4 Food Programme presenter Dan Saladino’s ‘highly original,’ radical and hopeful investigation into food biodiversity, Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them won the Writing on Conservation Prize. Explaining why diversity matters for food security, our health, for local economies and for the future of the planet, this book is a rallying cry for reclaiming genetic biodiversity before it is too late.
Charlotte Smith, Chair of Judges and BBC Countryfile presenter commented:
"Our winner is encyclopaedic in scope, the result of a staggering fifteen years of research. We felt it was at turns; highly original, engrossing, fascinating & very clever. It offered enormous insight into where food comes from on a global level and offers clear, gently expressed solutions - it gave us enormous hope for the future"
ABOUT THE WINNER FOR CHILDREN’S WRITING ON NATURE AND CONSERVATION:
Using statistics to present the challenges of climate change in new light, The Biggest Footprint: Eight Billion Humans. One Clumsy Giant, won the inaugural Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation Prize. By reimagining the whole of humanity as one massive giant, writer/ illustrator brothers Rob and Tom Sears take a revelatory look at the damage humanity has inflicted on the planet and how we might begin to rectify it.
Chair of Judges and CBBC Presenter, Gemma Hunt commented:
"The Biggest Footprint, a totally unique and highly innovative book, captured all our imaginations. It's an empowering, insightful tale that helps us all, at any age, understand and take ownership of the biggest threat of our lifetime. Such a clever and original book that feels totally deserving of our inaugural prize."
Mark Cropper, Chairman of James Cropper, said:
“We would like to congratulate and thank all the shortlisted authors for everything that they are doing to educate and inspire us to create a better world. This year's winners make some of the biggest issues the natural world faces today incredibly accessible, while conveying the beauty and power of nature, through such innovative and skilled writing. Telling stories through paper is something our business has done for nearly two centuries, and it is a joy to see all the authors doing that very thing in such a meaningful way, encouraging us all to embrace and protect what our environment has to offer.”
