Description
Book SynopsisThe best of contemporary nature writing from the winners of the inaugural international Nature Chronicles Prize.
The Nature Chronicles Prize is a new biennial, international, English-language literary award founded to celebrate engaging, unique, essay-length non-fiction that responds to the time we are in and the world as it is. Conceived in 2020 to mark the global pandemic, the prize is also a memorial to Prudence Scott, a lifelong nature diarist who died in 2019.
Contained within this volume are the outstanding shortlisted entries for the inaugural prize. These winning works express diverse responses to our planet and its life, and together embody the best of contemporary nature writing, whether by emerging or established authors.
The anthology is introduced by bestselling nature writer Kathryn Aalto, who was one of the prize judges.
Trade Review“A richly layered reading experience……Not only did ‘A Parable of Arable Land’ make us think deeply, but we had the sense that Prudence Scott might also have chosen it.” (On the winning essay by Nicola Pitchford) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
“A refreshing essay on queerness, sexuality, and love.” (on Jenny Chamarette’s ‘Q is for Garden’) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
“So stylishly written that it could have been fiction … an essay about boundaries and relationships written in sharp and vivid imagery.” (On Laura Coleman’s ‘The Fence’) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
“This unflinching essay has a hot, wild breath … a brisk, braided [that] transports readers.” (On Ben Crane’s ‘The Flight of the Goshawk’) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
"This gritty essay is about displacement, loss, and overconsumption in the desert ecosystem of Las Vegas … finds solace in knowing what does belong.” (On Joanna Pocock’s ‘None of This Should Be Here’) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
“Neha Sinha brought a vital global perspective, putting the pandemic at the heart of the story and graphically revealing the different ways it was experienced.” (On ‘City of Covid Trees’) -- The Nature Chronicles Prize Judges
