Dara McAnulty
Born2004 (age 18–19)
OccupationNaturalist, writer and environmental campaigner
Notable awards

Dara Seamus McAnulty BEM (born 2004) is a Northern Irish naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner.[1][2] 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.

Personal life

McAnulty was born in 2004 and lives with his family near the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland.

In mid-2021, McAnulty 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.[3]

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.[4][5] It details his intense connection to the natural world as an autistic teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize[6] for UK Nature Writing, and he won the 2020 prize.[7] He was also awarded the An Post Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year.[8] In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer).[9] and won the British Book Award for narrative non-fiction.[10]

He has written for The Big Issue,[11] The Guardian,[12] has presented radio for BBC Radio Ulster and has appeared on BBC Springwatch and BBC Countryfile. He has also written and presented for BBC Radio Four Tweet of the Day[13] He was a part of "The people's Walk For Wildlife"[14] organised by television naturalist Chris Packham. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues.[15]

In June 2021 McAnulty began writing a monthly nature column for The Irish Times.[16]

Awards and recognition

McAnulty's first book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing.[17] after being the youngest author to be shortlisted for the award. His second book, Wild Child, was shortlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature and Conservation.[18]

He is also the youngest author to be long-listed for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction[19] and for the shortlist for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards, which he won in the non-fiction category.[20]

McAnulty was celebrated in "Points of Light" in 2018 by the prime minister for his work in connecting young people to nature.[21] His campaigning work against raptor persecution[22] and biodiversity loss[23] earned him the RSPB Medal for Conservation[24] 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.[25]

Selected publications

  • McAnulty, Dara (2021). Wild child : a journey through nature. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1529045321.
  • McAnulty, Dara (2020). Diary of a Young Naturalist. Little Toller Books. ISBN 9781908213792.

References

  1. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (16 May 2020). "Natural talent: the 16 year-old writer taking the world by storm". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ↑ Stephenson, Hannah (4 July 2020). "Naturalist Dara McAnulty: Only when the last person stops caring are we truly lost". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Rajesh, Monisha (13 August 2021). "Pointing out racism in books is not an 'attack' – it's a call for industry reform". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Preston, Alex (7 June 2020). "Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty review - miraculous memoir". The Observer. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. ↑ Comerford, Ruth (27 May 2020). "Little Toller reprints Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "2020 UK Nature Writing". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Winners of An Post Irish Book Awards 2020 announced". RTÉ. 25 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Emerging Writer Award Shortlist 2021". www.zurich.ie. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  10. ↑ "British Book Award Winners Announced – But Are You In The Mood For A Cry Or A Page-Turner?". Isle of Wight Radio. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Dara McAnulty on lockdown: 'These stagnant days are full of life'". The Big Issue. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  12. ↑ McAnulty, Dara (16 May 2020). "'I want to find the beauty in everything': Dara McAnulty's Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Dara and Tweet of the Day - Mark Avery". markavery.info. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "The People's Walk for Wildlife". Laurence Rose. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  15. ↑ Simpson, Claire (4 October 2019). "Hundreds of species in north 'could become extinct'". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. ↑ McAnulty, Dara (26 June 2021). "Dara McAnulty: Beside the sea I feel winged, like I might fly off". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Winners of Wainwright Prize 2020 Announced". Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 shortlists announced". Wainwright Prize. James Cropper plc. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  19. ↑ Flood, Alison (10 September 2020). "Dara McAnulty becomes youngest ever finalist for Baillie Gifford prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  20. ↑ Doyle, Martin. "Maggie O'Farrell and Dara McAnulty win Books Are My Bag awards". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  21. ↑ "#iwill Young Naturalist Blogger". Points of Light. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  22. ↑ Monahan, Meadhbh (4 February 2018). "Teen wildlife enthusiast Dara McAnulty raises over £5,000 for raptor tagging project". Impartial Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  23. ↑ "RSPB NI: Young naturalist Dara receives RSPB award for his conservation campaigning". The RSPB. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  24. ↑ Corr, Shauna (4 November 2019). "NI lad follows in David Attenborough's footsteps as youngest winner of UK award". BelfastLive. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N32.
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