Andrea On Award List

Multi award-winning Andrea Wulf is now on the shortlist for the Baillie Gifford 2026 Prize, joining five other authors in line for the top prize of £50,000.

Andrea was previously longlisted for the award in 2008 and has now received a second recognition for The Traveller. This is a biography which traces the life of George Forster, an 18th-century naturalist and explorer, who joined Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world as a teenager.

Following his footsteps from Europe to Tahiti, Andrea paints a portrait of a remarkable man driven by curiosity as he studied the diverse nature of the peoples and culture he met. His travels led to an unshakeable belief in the equality of races.

Chair of judges Kirsty Lang said of the shortlist that it is united by stories of people navigating a world full of conflict as well as hope. The winner will be announced on 4 November.

Click the image above to hear what the judges had to say about the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize including Sam Leith’s, Literary Editor of The Spectator,
recommendation to read The Traveller.