Dara McAnulty

Dara McAnulty (born 2004) is a Northern Irish naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner.[1][2] He is the youngest ever winner of the RSPB Medal and won the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing in 2020 after being the youngest author to be shortlisted for the award. He is also the youngest author to be long-listed for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction[3] and for the shortlist for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards.

He was celebrated in "Points of Light" in 2018 by the prime minister for his work in connecting young people to nature.[4] His campaigning work against raptor persecution[5] and biodiversity loss[6] earned him the RSPB Medal for Conservation[7] in 2019, the award has been previously won by naturalists such as Sir David Attenborough.

His debut book Diary of a Young Naturalist which chronicles the turning of his fourteenth year, was released in May 2020.[8][9] It details his intense connection to the natural world as an autistic teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize[10] for UK Nature Writing, and he won the 2020 prize.[11]

He has written for The Big Issue[12] The Guardian[13] 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[14] He was a part of 'The people's Walk For Wildlife'[15] organised by television naturalist, Chris Packham. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues.[16]

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

He lives with his family in Castlewellan Northern Ireland.

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. "Naturalist Dara McAnulty: Only when the last person stops caring are we truly lost". The Irish News. 2020-07-04. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  3. "Dara McAnulty becomes youngest ever finalist for Baillie Gifford prize". the Guardian. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  4. "#iwill Young Naturalist Blogger". Points of Light. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. "Teen wildlife enthusiast Dara McAnulty raises over £5,000 for raptor tagging project". Impartial Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. "RSPB NI: Young naturalist Dara receives RSPB award for his conservation campaigning". The RSPB. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. Corr, Shauna (4 November 2019). "NI lad follows in David Attenborough's footsteps as youngest winner of UK award". BelfastLive. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  8. "Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty review - miraculous memoir". the Guardian. 7 June 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. "Little Toller reprints Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Bookseller. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  10. "Diary of a Young Naturalist". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  11. "2020 UK Nature Writing". The Wainwright Prize. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  12. "Dara McAnulty on lockdown: 'These stagnant days are full of life'". The Big Issue. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  13. 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.
  14. "Dara and Tweet of the Day - Mark Avery". markavery.info. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  15. "The People's Walk for Wildlife". Laurence Rose. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. Simpson, Claire (4 October 2019). "Hundreds of species in north 'could become extinct'". The Irish News. Retrieved 1 September 2020.

Selected publications
  • McAnulty, Dara (2020). Diary of a young naturalist. LIttle Toller Books. ISBN 9781908213792.
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