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2026 Shortlist

"Travel writing has never been richer or more versatile" - Colin Thubron

The shortlist of six books for the inaugural £10,000 Sherborne Prize for Travel Writing was chosen by the judges from more than 70 entries.

 

Awarded for the first time in 2026, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, the Prize is a significant boost to the reputation of the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival as a window on the quality and creativity of contemporary travel writing.

 

Chair of the judges Colin Thubron said: “In its vigour and diversity alone, our shortlist is a striking tribute to the indispensable value of travel and the seriousness of its writing. Travel writing has never been richer or more versatile.”

 

The shortlist for the 2026 Sherborne Prize for Travel Writing was as follows:

Russia Starts Here by Howard Amos
Russia Starts Here
Howard Amos

Returning to Russia's European borderlands – once a thriving nexus of trade and cultural exchange, now one of the poorest places of this nation – Amos tries to understand the country he once called home.



Greyhound by Joanna Pocock
Greyhound
Joanna Pocock

Pocock explores the overlap of place and memory, the individual with the communal, and the privatisation of public space as she navigates two very different landscapes 17 years apart.

Anima: A Wild Pastoral by Kapka Kassabova
Anima: A Wild Pastoral
Kapka Kassabova

This spellbinding book tells the story of Kapka Kassabova's time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living.

Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia’s War by Jen Stout
Night Train to Odesa
Jen Stout

When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, millions of lives changed in an instant. Scottish reporter, Jen Stout, seeks to understand the big questions of identity, history, hopes and fears in this war in Europe.

Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Is A River Alive?
Robert Macfarlane

This brilliant, perspective-shifting new book answers a resounding yes to the question of its title. At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use but living beings.

Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth
Lone Wolf
Adam Weymouth

From the winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award comes an epic walk across the Alps in the footsteps of a wolf, throwing unique light on Europe's mountainous hinterlands.

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