John Lewis-Stempel is an English farmer, writer, and ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' Top 5 best selling author. The Times, The Mail, The Telegraph have described him as 'Britain's finest living nature writer'

Early life

Lewis-Stempel was born in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

in 1967, where his family have lived for over 700 years. He read for an MA in History at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Career

He has written on a range of subjects from Native Americans to fatherhood, but specialises in military history and natural history under his family name. He worked for Time Out during the late 1980s, and wrote across the

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

and

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

under a pen name during the 1990s. Lewis-Stempel is a former columnist for ''

The Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in ...

'', and currently a columnist for '' Country Life'' and

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

. His Times column, Nature Notebook, focuses on both nature and farming across the UK. His column on nature and farming in ''Country Life'' won him Magazine Columnist of the Year in the 2016 BSME Awards. His monthly column in ''The Countryman'' magazine began in March 2023. Lewis-Stempel's book '' Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field'' won the

Wainwright Prize 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 Glo ...

and was also short-listed for BBC ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker, Tom Heap, Ellie Har ...

'' Country Book of the Year 2014. In 2016 ''The Running Hare'' was a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Book of the Week and a ''

'' best seller, and was shortlisted for the 2017 Wainwright Prize, The

Richard Jefferies John Richard Jefferies (6 November 1848 – 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influ ...

Society Prize and the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award. He won the 2017 Wainwright Prize with another shortlisted book, '' Where Poppies Blow'', about British soldiers and their relationship with nature in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' has described him as 'the hottest

nature writer Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose about the natural environment. It often draws heavily from scientific information and facts while also incorporating philosophical reflection upon various aspects of nature. Works are frequently writte ...

around', and ''

'' as 'Britain's finest living nature writer'. The Telegraph '' The Wood: The Life and Times of Cockshutt Wood'', released in 2018, was also a Radio 4 Book of the Week, and ''Sunday Times'' top five bestseller. His history of farming in England, ''Woodston'', published in 2021, also became a Sunday Times bestseller. ''La Vie'', (2023) describes his experience in 'la France profonde'. Labelled a 'poetic, sound-filled book', it saw Lewis-Stempel dubbed 'our finest nature and farming writer' by the

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

. The book was a Waterstones Best Book of 2024. In the same year he published ''England, A Natural History'', another Sunday Times bestseller and selected by

as one of the best 20 books of the year

Personal life

Lewis-Stempel currently lives between South West France and the UK. He has two children, Tristram and Freda, with his wife, Penelope.

Awards

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Foundation Award (2012) *Thwaites

(2015) * BSME Awards Magazine Columnist of the Year (SI/B) (2016) *Gambrinus 'Giuseppe Mazozotti' Literary Prize (2016, commended) *Thwaites

(2017)

Bibliography

* ''Fatherhood: An Anthology'' (2001) * ''England: The Autobiography'' (2005) * ''The Autobiography of the British Soldier: From Agincourt to Basra, in His Own Words'' (2007) * '' The Wild Life: A Year of Living on Wild Food'' (2010) * ''Young Herriot: The Early Life and Times of James Herriot'' (2011) * ''Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War: The Life and Death of the British Officer in the First World War'' (2011) * ''Young James Herriot: The Making of the World's Most Famous Vet'' (2012) * ''Foraging, The essential guide to wild food'' (2012) * ''The War Behind the Wire: The Life, Death and Glory of British Prisoners of War, 1914–18'' (2014) * '' Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field'' (2014) * ''A Brief History of the British Army'' (with

Jock Haswell Major Chetwynd John Drake "Jock" Haswell (18 July 1919 – 21 January 2018), who also wrote as George Foster, was a British military and intelligence author and former British intelligence officer. He was "Author for Service Intelligence" 196 ...

) (2016) * ''The Running Hare: The Secret Life of Farmland'' (2016) * '' Where Poppies Blow'' (2016) * ''The Secret Life of the Owl'' (2017) * '' The Wood: The Life and Times of Cockshutt Wood'' (2018) * ''The Glorious Life of the Oak'' (2018) * ''Still Water: The Deep Life of the Pond'' (2019) * ''Woodston'' (2021) * ''The Soaring Life of the Lark'' (2021) * ''The Sheep's Tale'' (2022) * ''Nightwalking'' (2022) * ''La Vie'' (A year in rural France) (2023) *''England, A natural History'' (2024) *''The Curious Life of the Cuckoo'' (2025)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120315055111/http://www.lawagency.co.uk/?page=writers&sub_page=specific&writers_id=82&filer=2 * https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2009/may/23/hay-festival-john-lewis-stempel * https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/08/paperback-q-a-john-lewis-stempel
http://www.countryfile.com/awards2014-15
*http://www.bsme.com/shortlist-2016-bsme-awards *https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2024/10/27/britains-finest-nature-writer-prefers-live-france/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis-Stempel, John British historians British male writers Living people Writers from Herefordshire British biographers 1967 births English nature writers Alumni of the University of Kent