Dara McAnulty explained

Dara McAnulty
Birth Date:31 March 2004
Occupation:Naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner
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Dara Seamus McAnulty (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.

Personal life

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

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.[4] his profile on X, formerly Twitter, states that he has been a member since June 2016.[5]

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.[6] [7] It details his intense connection to the natural world as an autistic teenager. He is the youngest ever author shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize[8] for UK Nature Writing, and he won the 2020 prize.[9] He was also awarded the An Post Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year.[10] In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award (Emerging Writer)[11] and won the British Book Award for narrative non-fiction.[12]

He has written for The Big Issue,[13] The Guardian,[14] 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.[15] He was a part of "The People's Walk for Wildlife"[16] organised by television naturalist Chris Packham. He is a vocal campaigner on environmental issues.[17]

In June 2021 McAnulty began writing a monthly nature column for The Irish Times.[18]

Awards and recognition

McAnulty's first book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing,[19] 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.[20]

He is also the youngest author to be long-listed for the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction[21] and for the shortlist for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards, which he won in the non-fiction category.[22]

McAnulty was celebrated in "Points of Light" in 2018 by the UK Prime Minister for his work in connecting young people to nature.[23] His campaigning work against raptor persecution[24] and biodiversity loss[25] earned him the RSPB Medal for Conservation[26] 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.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: McAnulty, Dara. Diary of a Young Naturalist. Little Toller. 2020. 23. 9781908213792.
  2. News: The Guardian. Natural talent: the 16 year-old writer taking the world by storm. Patrick. Barkham. 16 May 2020. 9 April 2024. 0261-3077.
  3. Web site: Naturalist Dara McAnulty: Only when the last person stops caring are we truly lost. The Irish News. Hannah. Stephenson. 4 July 2020. 9 April 2024. subscription.
  4. Web site: Pointing out racism in books is not an 'attack' – it's a call for industry reform. The Guardian. Monisha. Rajesh. Monisha Rajesh. 13 August 2021. 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. .
  5. Web site: McAnulty . Dara . @NaturalistDara . X . 10 April 2024.
  6. News: Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty review - miraculous memoir. The Observer. Alex. Preston. 7 June 2020. 9 April 2024.
  7. News: Little Toller reprints Diary of a Young Naturalist. The Bookseller. Ruth. Comerford. 27 May 2020. 9 April 2024.
  8. Web site: Nature Writing Shortlist 2020 Diary of A Young Naturalist. The Wainwright Prize. 9 April 2024.
  9. Web site: Shortlists announced for the 2020 Wainwright Prize. The Wainwright Prize. 30 July 2020. 9 April 2024.
  10. News: Winners of An Post Irish Book Awards 2020 announced. RTÉ. 25 November 2020. 9 April 2024.
  11. Web site: Shortlist for the Emerging Writer Award 2021. Zurich Ireland. Dalkey Literary Awards. 9 April 2024.
  12. Web site: 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. 9 April 2024.
  13. Web site: Dara McAnulty on lockdown: 'These stagnant days are full of life'. The Big Issue. 11 June 2020. 9 April 2024.
  14. News: 'I want to find the beauty in everything': Dara McAnulty's Diary of a Young Naturalist. The Guardian. Dara. McAnulty. 16 May 2020. 9 April 2024.
  15. Web site: Dara and Tweet of the Day. markavery.info. 29 June 2017. 9 April 2024.
  16. Web site: The People's Walk for Wildlife. laurencerose.co.uk. 23 September 2018. 9 April 2024.
  17. News: Hundreds of species in north 'could become extinct'. The Irish News. Claire. Simpson. 4 October 2019. 9 April 2024. subscription.
  18. News: Dara McAnulty: Beside the sea I feel winged, like I might fly off. The Irish Times. 26 June 2021. 9 April 2024.
  19. Web site: Winners of Wainwright Prize 2020 Announced. Wainwright Prize. 8 September 2020. 9 April 2024.
  20. Web site: James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2022 shortlists announced. Wainwright Prize. 28 July 2022. 9 April 2024.
  21. News: Dara McAnulty becomes youngest ever finalist for Baillie Gifford prize. The Guardian. Alison. Flood. 10 September 2020. 9 April 2024.
  22. News: Maggie O'Farrell and Dara McAnulty win Books Are My Bag awards. The Irish Times. Martin. Doyle. 12 November 2020. 9 April 2024.
  23. Web site:
    1. iwill Young Naturalist Blogger 1051. Dara McAnulty
    . Prime Minister's Office 10 Downing Street. Points of Light. 19 November 2018 . 9 April 2024.
  24. News: Teen wildlife enthusiast Dara McAnulty raises over £5,000 for raptor tagging project by completing 45k ramble. The Impartial Reporter. Meadhbh. Monahan. 4 February 2018. 9 April 2024.
  25. Young naturalist Dara receives RSPB award for his conservation campaigning. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20220518121915/https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/rspb-ni-young-naturalist-dara-receives-rspb-award-for-his-conservation-campaigning/. 18 May 2022. RSPB Media Centre. RSPB NI. Brian. Campbell. 1 November 2019.
  26. News: Co Down lad follows in Sir David Attenborough's footsteps as youngest ever winner of prestigious RSPB Medal. Belfast Live. Shauna. Corr. 4 November 2019. 9 April 2024.

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