Rowan Reddington is a poet and tree surgeon living in East London.

He won the inaugural Nero Book Awards Brunel Prize (2026) for his short story ‘Things I Learn from Trees’. The judge, Booker-nominated author of The Bee Sting Paul Murray, wrote:

‍ “Things I Learn from Trees by Rowan Reddington, winner of the Brunel Prize, depicts a day in the life of an arborist as he makes his way around drought-blasted London. Poetic, compassionate, full of humour and wisdom, Reddington’s story glisters with vivid details of both of the tree surgeon crew and the ailing trees they encounter. A love letter to the city and to the embattled natural world, and a portrait of man drawing on all his resources of art and empathy to get through a heatwave, this story introduces a writer of huge talent. I can’t wait to read what he writes next.”

Rowan has recently had poems published in 14 Magazine, Acumen, and Poetry Worth Hearing.

His poem ‘Wild Ghazal’ won second prize in the Shelley Memorial Project International Poetry Competition 2025.

Rowan studied for a BA in Creative Writing at Brunel University in 2025, winning the Arthur Scott Award for best-graded dissertation, and will soon start an MA there, courtesy of the Nero Prize.

A man with curly brown hair and a beard stands outdoors, wearing a patterned button-up shirt. There are trees, buildings, and a graffiti-covered wall in the background under a partly cloudy sky.