SELC announces 2026 Reed Environmental Writing Award winners and featured speaker

Catherine Coleman Flowers and Lindsey Liles recognized for powerful environmental storytelling

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has announced Catherine Coleman Flowers and Lindsey Liles as the winners of its 2026 Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Award. The award celebrates writers who achieve both literary excellence and offer extraordinary insight into the South's natural treasures and environmental challenges. An award ceremony will be held in honor of the winners during the Virginia Festival of the Book, featuring keynote speaker Christian Cooper, an Emmy Award-winning host and New York Times bestselling author.

Why it matters

The Reed Award aims to enhance public awareness of the value and vulnerability of the South's natural environment and to recognize the writers who effectively tell these important stories. The award honors both nonfiction books and journalism that shed light on the region's environmental issues and conservation efforts.

The details

Flowers is receiving the 2026 Reed Award for Book category for her collection of personal essays 'Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope.' Liles is being recognized in the Journalism category for her Garden & Gun feature 'Inside the Fight to Save the World's Most Endangered Wolf,' which explores the struggle to protect the red wolf in North Carolina. The award ceremony will be held on March 20 in Charlottesville, Virginia and will also be livestreamed online.

  • The award ceremony will be held on March 20, 2026.
  • The first 400 virtual registrants will receive a copy of Catherine Coleman Flowers's book 'Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope.'

The players

Catherine Coleman Flowers

A two-time recipient of the Reed Environmental Writing Award, Flowers is being recognized for her book 'Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope.'

Lindsey Liles

Liles is receiving the 2026 Reed Award in the Journalism category for her Garden & Gun feature 'Inside the Fight to Save the World's Most Endangered Wolf.'

Christian Cooper

An Emmy Award-winning host and New York Times bestselling author, Cooper will serve as the keynote speaker for the 2026 Reed Environmental Writing Award ceremony.

Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC)

A powerful defender of the environment in the South, SELC created the Reed Environmental Writing Award in 1994 to enhance public awareness of the region's natural treasures and challenges.

Phillip D. Reed

The Reed Environmental Writing Award is named after SELC founding trustee Phil Reed, a talented attorney and committed environmental leader who believed in the power of writing to change hearts and minds.

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What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether or not to allow Walker Reed Quinn out on bail.

The takeaway

The Reed Environmental Writing Award continues to honor the power of storytelling to raise awareness and inspire action on the most pressing environmental issues facing the American South, from climate change to species conservation.