Shortlist for Richard Jefferies Award for best nature writing published in 2024

 The Richard Jefferies Award is given 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 shortlist for 2024 nominations: 

 ·         The Lost Paths by Jack Cornish, published by Michael Joseph (Penguin).

·         Lost Wonders by Tom Lathan, published by Picador.

·         The Accidental Garden by Richard Mabey, published by Profile.

      ·         Nature’s Ghosts by Sophie Yeo, published by Harper North.

The award was first introduced in 2015 by the Richard Jefferies Society and then sponsored by the White Horse Bookshop, Marlborough [2]. It has attracted an unprecedented number of nominations that grow each year reflecting the increasing quality of books dedicated to the natural world.

Previous award 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); Rebirding by Benedict Macdonald (2019), Orchard by Benedict Macdonald and Nicholas Gates (2020), On Gallows Down by Nicola Chester (2021), Wild Fell by Lee Schofield (2022)and Late Light by Michael Malay (2023).

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

Notes 

[1] For more information about the Award and previous winners: http://www.richardjefferiesaward.org/

[2] The White Horse Bookshop first opened its doors in 1943 and has stood on its present site - a 16th century townhouse in Marlborough, Wiltshire - since 1949: 

https://www.whitehorsebooks.co.uk/