Dara McAnulty

Last updated

Dara McAnulty
Born (2004-03-31) 31 March 2004 (age 20)
OccupationNaturalist, writer and environmental campaigner
Notable awards

Dara Seamus McAnulty BEM (born 31 March 2004) [1] is a naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner from Northern Ireland. [2] [3] He is the youngest ever winner of the RSPB Medal and received the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing in 2020 after being the youngest author to be shortlisted for the award.

Contents

Personal life

McAnulty was born in 2004 and lives with his family near the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland. He attended Shimna Integrated College, completing school in 2022, and has since studied natural sciences at Queen's College, Cambridge. [4]

In mid-2021, Monisha Rajesh reported in The Guardian that McAnulty had left Twitter after receiving abuse as a result of having raised concerns about Kate Clanchy's descriptions of autistic students and students of colour in her book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me. [5] As of April 2024 his profile on X, formerly Twitter, states that he has been a member since June 2016. [6]

He is an ambassador for the RSPCA and the Jane Goodall Institute.

Writings

His debut book Diary of a Young Naturalist which chronicles the turning of his fourteenth year, was released in May 2020. [7] [8] It details his intense connection to the natural world as an autistic teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize [9] for UK Nature Writing, and he won the 2020 prize. [10] He was also awarded the An Post Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year. [11] In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer) [12] and won the British Book Award for narrative non-fiction. [13]

He has written for The Big Issue , [14] The Guardian , [15] has presented radio for BBC Radio Ulster and has appeared on Springwatch and Countryfile . He has also written and presented for BBC Radio 4's Tweet of the Day . [16] He was a part of "The People's Walk for Wildlife" [17] organised by television naturalist Chris Packham. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues. [18]

In June 2021 McAnulty began writing a monthly nature column for The Irish Times . [19]

Awards and recognition

McAnulty's first book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing, [20] after being the youngest author to be shortlisted for the award.[ citation needed ] His second book, Wild Child, was shortlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation. [21]

He is also the youngest author to be long-listed for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction [22] and for the shortlist for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards, which he won in the non-fiction category. [23]

McAnulty was celebrated in "Points of Light" in 2018 by the UK Prime Minister for his work in connecting young people to nature. [24] His campaigning work against raptor persecution [25] and biodiversity loss [26] earned him the RSPB Medal for Conservation [27] in 2019: the award has been previously won by naturalists such as Sir David Attenborough.

McAnulty was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the environment and people with autism spectrum disorder. [28]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stirling Prize</span> British prize for excellence in architecture

The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Stirling Prize is presented to "the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to the evolution of architecture in the past year". The architects must be RIBA members. Until 2014, the building could have been anywhere in the European Union, but since 2015 entries have had to be in the United Kingdom. In the past, the award included a £20,000 prize, but it currently carries no prize money.

Níall McLaughlin Architects is an architectural firm in London, England. Níall McLaughlin established the practice in 1991. He has been described as "a favourite with Oxbridge clients"; as of 2022, McLaughlin has had commissions from 15 colleges at Oxford and Cambridge universities. In 2022, the practice won the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture for the New Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Cocker</span> British author and naturalist (born 1959)

Mark Cocker is a British author and naturalist. He lives with his wife, Mary Muir, and two daughters in Claxton, Norfolk. The countryside around Claxton is a theme for two of his twelve books.

Robert Macfarlane is a British writer and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Riddell</span> Illustrator

Chris Riddell is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals – the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Boyne</span> Irish novelist and youth fiction author (born 1971)

John Boyne is an Irish novelist. He is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six novels for younger readers, two novellas and one collection of short stories. His novels are published in over 50 languages. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was adapted into a 2008 film of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Catton</span> New Zealand novelist and screenwriter

Eleanor Catton is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master's degree in creative writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her award-winning debut novel, The Rehearsal, written as her Master's thesis, was published in 2008, and has been adapted into a 2016 film of the same name. Her second novel, The Luminaries, won the 2013 Booker Prize, making Catton the youngest author ever to win the prize and only the second New Zealander. It was subsequently adapted into a television miniseries, with Catton as screenwriter. In 2023, she was named on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shimna Integrated College</span> Integrated secondary school in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland

Shimna Integrated College is an integrated secondary school based in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The all-ability school was founded in 1994 with the hope of integrating young people from both sides of Northern Ireland's religious divide and giving all of its students 'self-esteem'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiran Millwood Hargrave</span> British poet, playwright and novelist (born 1990)

Kiran Ann Millwood Hargrave FRSL is a British poet, playwright and novelist. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

The BBC National Short Story Award has been described as "one of the most prestigious [awards] for a single short story" and the richest prize in the world for a single short story. It is an annual short story contest in the United Kingdom which is open to UK residents and nationals. As of 2017, the winner receives £15,000 and four shortlisted writers receive £600 each.

The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and the Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation, with separate longlists and judging panels. It is restricted to books published in the UK. For three years from 2022 the prizes will be sponsored by Kendal paper-makers James Cropper plc and known as the James Cropper Wainwright Prizes. A prize for writing for children was introduced in 2022, the three prizes being the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation and the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation.

The RSPB Medal is awarded annually by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raynor Winn</span> British writer and long-distance walker

Raynor Winn is a British long-distance walker and writer. Her first book, The Salt Path, was a Sunday Times bestseller in 2018.

Elle McNicoll is a Scottish and British bestselling children's literature writer. McNicoll has been described as "undoubtedly an outstanding new talent in children's books [who] will inspire readers young and old for generations to come".

Seán Hewitt FRSL is a poet, lecturer and literary critic. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Cal Flyn is a Scottish author and journalist.

Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a Northern Irish writer known for her nature writings. She has published in The Guardian, The Irish Times and elsewhere, and her debut book Thin Places was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize in 2021.

Nicola Chester is a British nature writer. She is a regular columnist in The Guardian and in the RSPB's magazine, and has written a memoir On Gallows Down.

References

  1. ↑ McAnulty, Dara (2020). Diary of a Young Naturalist. Little Toller. p. 23. ISBN   9781908213792.
  2. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (16 May 2020). "Natural talent: the 16 year-old writer taking the world by storm". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  3. ↑ Stephenson, Hannah (4 July 2020). "Naturalist Dara McAnulty: Only when the last person stops caring are we truly lost" . The Irish News . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  4. ↑ "Interview with former student Dara McAnulty featured in Cambridge University magazine". Shimna Integrated College. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  5. ↑ Rajesh, Monisha (13 August 2021). "Pointing out racism in books is not an 'attack' – it's a call for industry reform". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2024. ... including Dara McAnulty, the 17-year-old autistic author of the award-winning Diary of a Young Naturalist. He highlighted several pages from the book that describe two autistic children as "odd", suggesting they might live in "ASD land". McAnulty then left Twitter after receiving so much abuse that his mother had to try to hide it from him.
  6. ↑ McAnulty, Dara. "@NaturalistDara". X. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  7. ↑ Preston, Alex (7 June 2020). "Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty review - miraculous memoir". The Observer . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  8. ↑ Comerford, Ruth (27 May 2020). "Little Toller reprints Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Bookseller . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  9. ↑ "Nature Writing | Shortlist 2020 | Diary of A Young Naturalist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  10. ↑ "Shortlists announced for the 2020 Wainwright Prize". The Wainwright Prize. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  11. ↑ "Winners of An Post Irish Book Awards 2020 announced". RTÉ . 25 November 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  12. ↑ "Shortlist for the Emerging Writer Award 2021". Dalkey Literary Awards. Zurich Ireland . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  13. ↑ "British Book Award Winners Announced – But Are You in the Mood for a Cry or a Page-Turner?". Isle of Wight Radio . 14 May 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  14. ↑ "Dara McAnulty on lockdown: 'These stagnant days are full of life'". The Big Issue. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  15. ↑ McAnulty, Dara (16 May 2020). "'I want to find the beauty in everything': Dara McAnulty's Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  16. ↑ "Dara and Tweet of the Day". markavery.info. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2024.[ self-published source ]
  17. ↑ "The People's Walk for Wildlife". laurencerose.co.uk. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2024.[ self-published source ]
  18. ↑ Simpson, Claire (4 October 2019). "Hundreds of species in north 'could become extinct'" . The Irish News. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  19. ↑ "Dara McAnulty: Beside the sea I feel winged, like I might fly off". The Irish Times . 26 June 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "Winners of Wainwright Prize 2020 Announced". Wainwright Prize. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  21. ↑ "James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 shortlists announced". Wainwright Prize. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  22. ↑ Flood, Alison (10 September 2020). "Dara McAnulty becomes youngest ever finalist for Baillie Gifford prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  23. ↑ Doyle, Martin (12 November 2020). "Maggie O'Farrell and Dara McAnulty win Books Are My Bag awards". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  24. ↑ "#iwill Young Naturalist Blogger | 1051. Dara McAnulty". Points of Light. Prime Minister's Office | 10 Downing Street. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  25. ↑ Monahan, Meadhbh (4 February 2018). "Teen wildlife enthusiast Dara McAnulty raises over £5,000 for raptor tagging project by completing 45k ramble". The Impartial Reporter . Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  26. ↑ Campbell, Brian (1 November 2019). "Young naturalist Dara receives RSPB award for his conservation campaigning". RSPB NI (Press release). RSPB Media Centre. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022.
  27. ↑ Corr, Shauna (4 November 2019). "Co Down lad follows in Sir David Attenborough's footsteps as youngest ever winner of prestigious RSPB Medal". Belfast Live. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  28. ↑ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N32.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.