A 16-year-old author from Northern Ireland has won the prestigious Wainwright Prize for U.K. Nature Writing, and his book will be published in the U.S. next year.
Dara McAnulty, whose Diary of a Young Naturalist was published in the U.K. in May, becomes the youngest author to win the prize.
Julia Bradbury, the television host who chaired the award’s judging panel, praised McAnulty’s book as “significant.”
“It’s a wonderful diary that fits around Dara’s personal endeavours and family experiences, but ultimately, shaped by the nature that surrounds us all,” Bradbury said. “The judges were almost breathless from reading it and would like to call for it to be immediately listed on the national curriculum.”
Critics agreed. Writing for the Guardian, Alex Preston called the book “miraculous,” adding, “A few hours reading this intimate, sensitive, deeply felt memoir had the same effect on me, lifting my spirits and giving me a great deal of hope for the future, simply that young people like Dara McAnulty are alive and writing in the world.”
In a news release, Minneapolis-based press Milkweed Editions said it would publish the book in the U.S. on June 8, 2021.
“As well as Dara’s intense connection to the natural world, Diary of a Young Naturalist captures his perspective as a teenager juggling exams, friendships, and a life of campaigning,” the publisher wrote on a webpage for the book. “We see his close-knit family, the disruptions of moving and changing schools, and the complexities of living with autism.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
