Two first-time authors have taken the top honours at the 2025 Wainwright Prize, the UK’s leading award for nature and conservation writing.
Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare (Canongate Books) won Book of the Year, while Flower Block (Puffin Books) by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang, claimed Children’s Book of the Year.
The Wainwright Prize, named after fellwalker Alfred Wainwright, has become a major celebration of writing that deepens readers’ connection to the natural world. Prize director Alastair Giles said: “This year’s entries demonstrate just how vital and vibrant nature writing has become – not only as a form of creative expression, but as a force for change.”
Book of the Year: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
Dalton’s memoir – described by bookseller Waterstones as a “life-affirming treat” – follows her journey from a busy London career to raising a leveret in rural England during lockdown.
“A whole new audience will be inspired by the intimate storytelling of Chloe Dalton,” said judging chair Luke Sherlock. “Raising Hare is a warm and welcoming book that invites readers to discover the joy and magic of the natural world. As gripping and poignant as a classic novel, there is little doubt this will be read for years and decades to come.”
Children’s Book of the Year: Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang
Flower Block tells the story of a young boy in a tower block whose love of plants brings his community together.
Mwaka Mudenda, chair of the Children’s Picture Book category, called it “a beautifully told story brought to life by stunning artwork that kept me engaged from start to finish… caring for the planet is something we can all be part of, no matter who we are or where we come from.”
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This year’s other winners include The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole, which shines a light on land ownership, Feed the Planet by George Steinmetz, praised as “revelatory and unsettling”, Wildlands by Brogen Murphy, a call to protect wild spaces, and Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare, which aims to inspire wonder and help forge connections with one of nature’s smallest yet most important creatures.
2025 Wainwright Prize: list of winners
Book of the Year
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Canongate Books)
Children’s Book of the Year
Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang (Puffin Books)
Nature Writing
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Canongate Books)
Conservation Writing
The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole (William Collins)
Illustrative Books
Feed the Planet by George Steinmetz with Joel K. Bourne Jr. & Michael Pollan (Abrams)
Children’s Fiction
Wildlands by Brogen Murphy (Puffin Books)
Children’s Non-Fiction
Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare, illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti (Nosy Crow)
Children’s Picture Books
Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang (Puffin Books)
Both overall winners receive £2,500, with Flower Block’s prize shared between its author and illustrator. Category winners receive £500 each.
Previous Wainwright Prize Winners
- 2024 – Late Light by Michael Malay; Blue Machine by Helen Czerski; Foxlight by Katya Balen
- 2023 – The Flow by Amy-Jane Beer; The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole; Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston
- 2022 – Goshawk Summer by James Aldred; Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino; The Biggest Footprint by Rob and Tom Sears
- 2021 – English Pastoral by James Rebanks; Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
- 2020 – The Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty; Rebirding by Benedict Macdonald
- 2019 – Underland by Robert Macfarlane
- 2018 – The Seabird’s Cry by Adam Nicolson
- 2017 – Where Poppies Blow by John Lewis-Stempel
- 2016 – The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
- 2015 – Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel
- 2014 – The Green Road into the Trees: A Walk through England by Hugh Thomson
Launched in 2013 with support from the National Trust, the Wainwright Prize now champions authors of all ages and backgrounds, celebrating storytelling that inspires awareness, action and hope for nature.
Top image: Chloe Dalton. Credit: Fisher Studios
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