Writing The Landscape

What opportunities exist for writers looking to explore the nature-writing genre?

Writing Magazine — March 2023 — Screenshot © Simon Whaley

(This article first appeared in the March 2023 issue of Writing Magazine.)

Ten years ago, Frances Lincoln, publishers of the Alfred Wainwright pictorial guides to the Lake District, launched a brand new literary prize for published nature writing books.

Now managed by an independent marketing agency and The National Trust, and sponsored by a Lake District-based paper manufacturer, the James Cropper Wainwright Prize has expanded into three prize categories: nature writing, writing on conservation, and children’s writing on nature and conservation.

Nominations for this year’s awards close in a few weeks’ time, but the growing popularity of nature, landscape, and conservation writing means the market for this genre is blooming. But what exactly is nature or landscape writing, and how can writers break into this market?

Nicola Chester ( https://nicolachester.wordpress.com/) is a columnist for the RSPB, Countryfile magazine, a regular contributor to The Guardian’s Country Diary series, and author of On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Prize for nature writing.