Nature Writing Prize 2023 shortlist announced

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Australia has announced the writers shortlisted for the 2023 Nature Writing Prize.

The shortlisted writers are:

• Bonny Cassidy (Chewton Bushlands) for ‘A Custodial Species’, which ‘draws together a beautiful combination of story, emotion, research, theory, artefact and experience’, mapping ‘a new path between the perceived threat wielded by the lost big trees of Ireland to the protection still afforded by trees in Victoria’
• Lily Chan (Footscray) for ‘The Golden Age’, which ‘demonstrates the multiplicities of experience alongside big questions of faith, hope, apocalypse and childhood’, balancing ‘domestic details and universal misunderstandings alongside the colours and creatures of one small piece of Western Australia’
• Lesley Head (Brunswick) for ‘The Preserves’, which ‘unpacks the realities and cultural meanings of blackberries, an invasive species and valuable horticultural crop’, which invites readers ‘into the sensory world of jam-making and charts a journey through history, culture and nature’
• Connor Tomas O’Brien (Brunswick East) for ‘The Cryptids’, which ‘takes nature writing in a different kind of direction’ and is ‘a potent reminder of the transient nature of life and landscapes, and of what we’re willing to recognise or ignore’
• Dave Witty (Elwood) for ‘Unconformities’, a ‘rich and intelligent essay that inhabits its material, sending readers on a quest for the extraordinary in Melbourne’s urban and peri-urban landscapes’.

Judges Ashley Hay and Cameron Muir reviewed 3000- to 5000-word essays on the theme of ‘writing of place’. ‘Submissions resonated with converging themes’, said the judges. ‘Notably, the indelible marks of Covid lockdowns, bushfires, and floods of years past still loom large. There were stories of passion, humour, despair and celebration among a range of established and emerging writers.’

The biennial TNC Australia Nature Writing Prize, worth $7500, promotes and celebrates the art of nature writing in Australia and is for an Australian writer whose entry is of the highest literary merit, which best explores their relationship and interaction with some aspect of the Australian landscape. An additional highly commended author will receive the $1000 Rosina Joy Buckman Award.

The winner of the 2021 award was Gregory Day. The winner of the 2023 Nature Writing Prize will be announced in Melbourne on Wednesday, 22 November, at an event featuring a keynote address by Tim Winton.

More information about the prize and a link to tickets for the event can be found at the Nature Conservancy website.

Category: Awards Local news