Shortlist announced: best nature-writing books published in 2020

The Richard Jefferies Society and the White Horse Book Shop Literary Prize is awarded annually to the author of the publication considered by the judging panel to be the most outstanding nature writing published in a given calendar year. The winning work must reflect the heritage and spirit of Richard Jefferies’ countryside books.

 

 The final short-list for 2020 publications was announced today as: 

·         Orchard. A Year in England’s Eden by Benedict Macdonald and Nicholas Gates.  [Collins]

·         Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty. [Little Toller]

·         The Consolation of Nature: Spring in the Time of Coronavirus by Michael McCarthy, Jeremy Mynott and Peter Marren. [Hodder]

·         The Swallow: A Biography  by Stephen Moss. [Square Peg]

·         Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. [Bodley Head]

·         The Gospel of the Eels: A Father, a Son and the World’s Most Enigmatic Fish by Patrik Svensson. [Picador]

  The award was first introduced in 2015. Last year attracted an unprecedented number of nominations reflecting the increasing number of books dedicated to the natural world.

 Previous winners are: Gods of the Morning by John Lister-Kaye (2015), The Wood for the Trees by Richard Fortey (2016) The Seabird's Cry by Adam Nicolson (2017), Wilding by Isabella Tree (2018) and Rebirding by Benedict Macdonald (2019).

 The judging panel will meet in early summer to agree and announce the overall winner of the £1000 prize.

Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) was an authority on agriculture and rural life. Best known for his nature writing, he was also an essayist, novelist and mystic. The Richard Jefferies Society (Registered Charity No 1042838) was founded in 1950 to promote appreciation and study of his writing. 

The main event is a spring lecture held in Liddington Village Hall in May along with the Annual General Meeting.  In response to the corona virus pandemic, all further meetings will take place by Zoom. 

Richard Jefferies Society publications include an annual Journal, spring and autumn newsletters, and an annual report along with leaflets and books by and about the author.  Andrew Rossabi (the Society's President) is writing the definitive biography of Richard Jefferies.  Volume I is an in-depth study of Jefferies' early years (published 2017).  Volume II covers the years of struggle from 1867-76 (published 8 July 2020). Volume III and IV will complete the years of maturity 1876-1887 (publication date to be announced). 

  

Richard Jefferies kept pocket notebooks from 1876 to two months before his death in 1887. There were at least twenty four but only sixteen of them are held in the archives of the British Library. The rest are in unknown private hands or lost and further information about them would be much appreciated. The contents of the known notebooks have been typed up and the document is available as a pdf document. 

Best nature writing literary award for 2019 publications

BENEDICT MACDONALD’S REBIRDING WINS THE RICHARD JEFFERIES SOCIETY AND WHITE HORSE BOOKSHOP LITERARY PRIZE FOR BEST NATURE BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2019.

The Richard Jefferies Society [1] and the White Horse Book Shop [2] are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Literary Prize is Benedict Macdonald for Rebirding: Rewilding Britain and its Birds published by Pelagic [3]. The prize of £1000 is awarded annually to the author of the publication considered by the judging panel to be the most outstanding nature writing published in a given calendar year. The winning work must reflect the heritage and spirit of Richard Jefferies’ [4] countryside books.

Ben Macdonald

Six books, published in 2019, were short-listed for this award [5] that was first introduced in 2015 [6]. Last year attracted an unprecedented number of nominations reflecting the increasing number of books dedicated to the natural world.

The judges agreed on 4 June 2020 that Macdonald’s book best met the criterion of reflecting themes or topics broadly consistent with Richard Jefferies’ writing.  Rebirding not only highlights how modern industrialised agriculture and land management practices have depleted biodiversity and bird life in Britain and compares the situation here with the much more favourable position in other parts of Europe; it also challenges the efficacy of some of the work of conservation organisations, insisting that small scale successes with some endangered species of birds will never result in sufficiently large populations to be viable, and that there is an urgent need for a network of links between conservation areas across the country. However, Macdonald is not defeatist, and nor is he afraid to be controversial. He argues for the game-changing potential of radical schemes of change, such as the rewilding of economically inefficient areas like those worked by Welsh hill farmers, or in the Cairngorms, the revision of the environmentally destructive land management of grouse moors to ensure a flourishing diversity among wild life that is threatened and dwindling, and  the encouragement of new economic and employment opportunities in the countryside through the promotion of ecotourism.

Prof. Barry Sloan, Chair of the Richard Jefferies Society and of the judges panel said: ‘Rebirding impressed the judges by its ambition and scope and by the extensive research which underpins the book’s lively and thought-provoking engagement with some of the key environmental issues in the UK and their impact on our wildlife – and especially on bird life. You may not agree with all of Benedict Macdonald’s ideas and arguments, but his book is a passionate, informed  and important intervention in one of the most pressing concerns of our time, and it deserves serious attention and a wide readership.’

Ben Macdonald said: ‘My wise grandfather gave me a copy of Jefferies’ Wild Life in a Southern County when I was eight years old. Today I am humbled beyond measure to have won this literary prize. This one’s for you, Fred Giltinan.’

On 8 September 2020 Rebirding also won the Wainwright Prize for Global Conservation.