Caught by the River

The Wainwright Prize 2022 Longlist

24th June 2022

Huge congratulations to all of the writers and publishers — Friends of the River Nicola Chester, Rob Cowen, Nick Hayes, Amy Liptrot, Anna Fleming, Karen Lloyd, Melissa Harrison and Little Toller Books among them — who have been longlisted for one of this year’s three James Cropper Wainwright Prizes, announced yesterday.

The 2022 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing longlist is:

Otherlands: A World in the Making by Dr Thomas Halliday (Allen Lane)

12 Birds to Save Your Life: Nature’s Lessons in Happiness by Charlie Corbett (Penguin)

Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other by James Aldred (Elliott & Thompson)

Much Ado About Mothing: A year intoxicated by Britain’s rare and remarkable moths by James Lowen (Bloomsbury Wildlife)

On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging by Nicola Chester (Chelsea Green Publishing) – read an extract here / Mathew Clayton’s review here

Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain by Matthew Green (Faber & Faber) – read Adam Scovell’s review here

The Heeding by Rob Cowen, illustrated by Nick Hayes (Elliott & Thompson) – read extracts here and here / Tim Dee’s review here

The Instant by Amy Liptrot (Canongate) – read Nell Frizzell’s review here

The Sea Is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicolson (William Collins) – read Sue Brooks’ review here

The Trespasser’s Companion by Nick Hayes (Bloomsbury) – read Nick in conversation with Mathew Clayton about the book here

Time on Rock: A Climber’s Route into the Mountains by Anna Fleming (Canongate) – read an extract here / Heather Dawe’s review here

Wild Green Wonders: A Life in Nature by Patrick Barkham (Guardian Faber Publishing) – read an extract here / Sue Brooks’ review here

The 2022 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation longlist is:

Abundance: Nature in Recovery by Karen Lloyd (Bloomsbury Wildlife) – read an extract here

Aurochs and Auks by John Burnside (Little Toller Books) – read an extract here

Climate Change is Racist by Jeremy Williams and Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (Icon Books)

Divide: The relationship crisis between town and country by Anna Jones (Kyle Books)

Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino (Jonathan Cape)

Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis by Alice Bell (Bloomsbury Sigma)

Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet by George Monbiot (Allen Lane) – read Sue Brooks’ review here

Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse by Dave Goulson (Vintage)

Soundings: Journeys in the Company of Whales, by Doreen Cunningham (Virago)

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World by Oliver Milman (Atlantic Books)

The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth by Ben Rawlence (Jonathan Cape)

The Women Who Saved the English Countryside by Matthew Kelly (Yale University Press)

Wild Fell: Fighting for nature on a Lake District hill farm by Lee Schofield (Doubleday) – read Karen Lloyd’s review here

The 2022 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation longlist is:

A Bug’s World by Dr Erica McAlister, illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman (Wren & Rook)

Around the World in 80 Trees by Ben Lerwill, illustrated by Kaja Kajfež (Welbeck)

By Rowan and Yew by Melissa Harrison (Chicken House) – read an extract here

Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Orion Children’s Books)

Nests by Susan Ogilvy (Particular Books)

October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Jenni Desmond (Walker Books)

Spark by Mitch Johnson (Orion Children’s Books)

The Biggest Footprint: Eight billion humans. One clumsy giant by Rob Sears, illustrated by Tom Sears (Canongate)

The Summer We Turned Green by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury YA)

Twitch by M. G. Leonard (Walker Books)

Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature by Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls (Macmillan Children’s Books)

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The prize shortlists will be announced on 28th July and the winners’ announcement will be made live on 7th September at The London Wetland Centre.

We’ve handily collated all of this year’s nominated titles here on our Bookshop.org page.

Longlistees Amy Liptrot and Anna Fleming will both read from and discuss their books as part of our lineup for this year’s Camp Good Life festival, taking place in Hawarden, Wales, in September. More information here.