The Wainwright Prize is named after esteemed writer Alfred Wainwright, a Kendal local famous for his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells; James Rebanks’ win together with our sponsorship has highlighted a shared heritage and common interest in conservation held by organisations and individuals with roots in Cumbria.
The prize aims to reward outstanding literary titles inspired by the general outdoors, UK nature, travel and conservation. Alongside James Rebanks, Merlin Sheldrake won the Global Conservation and Climate Change Prize for Entangled Life.
James Rebanks won the UK Nature Writing award for English Pastoral, which tells the story of how rural landscapes around the world have been brought close to collapse, and the age-old rhythms of work, weather, community and wild things are being lost. It illustrates what it means to have love and pride in a place, and how, against all the odds, it may still be possible to build a new pastoral.