The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao has been announced as the winner of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2026 in landmark tenth year.
The Fertile Earth is only the second debut novel to win the Prize, following Emma Styles’s win with No Country for Girls in 2023. Rao was revealed as the winner at a private event hosted at Foyles Charing Cross Road, London on Thursday 17th September. The Michigan-based author takes home the £10,000 award.
Niso Smith, Prize Founder, said: “I am so impressed by the honesty of The Fertile Earth, with its cruel, proud and hopeful characters. But mostly I admire the story itself, which helps us to see a part of a country and its people at a time of transformation.
Ruthvika’s writing and the scale of this book make it soar. She takes us from village to city, letting us experience a rich and vivid southern India in both its magical and unforgiving forms. The voices of Krishna, Vijaya, Ranga and Sree are so real they will live on in readers’ minds forever. Huge congratulations to Ruthvika!"
Handpicked from the six-strong shortlist by a panel of librarians and library staff from across the UK, The Fertile Earth was then selected as the winner by judges Josh Adeyemi, outdoor influencer, content creator & Founder of Black Scottish Adventurers; Alex Bescoby, travel writer and filmmaker; Costanza Casati, author and winner of the 2025 Adventure Writing Prize; Captain Preet Chandi MBE, record-breaking army officer and Polar Explorer; and Tamsin Collison, audio director and producer. Readers were also invited to cast three online votes which, collated, represented one seat on the judging panel.
Judge Costanza Casati commented: “The Fertile Earth is an epic, ambitious story of adventure, class and family. Written in a language so beautiful that it tears at your heart, this book is fearless in the way in which it tackles the complexities of the human soul, and how our personal choices often affect the great political changes of our countries. A book that is hard to forget.”
Over the summer, libraries accessed free printed point-of-sale display materials and digital resources
Twelve book clubs, from Cornwall to Swansea to Norfolk, shadowed the judging, reviewing the shortlisted novels and discussing them with the authors in a private book club meeting. The judges took their views into consideration, along with the results of an open-to-all reader’s vote, equating to one seat on the judging panel.
More about this year’s Adventure Writing Prize
Did you see which books were on the brilliant shortlist? Discover them today.
Twelve of our book clubs from across the UK read and reviewed the shortlist, with the exciting opportunity to meet the authors to discuss the books. Meet the groups.
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