Meg Watts
Writer, Artist & Activist
My Work
I've been creating online for almost a decade now, so my projects are all over the web.
You can check out my work (vaguely sorted by theme) here:
Wyrd Norwich
In 2020, I started an instagram account called
@wyrdnorwich, with the sole aim of archiving all the
wyrd and wonderful shit in Norwich.
Three years on and I've created a community of over
7,000 Norwich connoisseurs, alongside wyrd sous chef Boberto.
Check out the wyrdness here:
Illustrations
My art is foraged, grown, stitched and collaged. Sometimes it's technically well executed; often it's not. That's art, baby!I draw inspiration from other works of literature and poetry, from the nature of my homeland and from the bubbling of life around me. I often illustrate my writing, from essays to prose. I typically use foraged and found materials, in addition to digital programmes such as Adobe Photoshop.I take commissions for lino-prints, ink drawings, logos, sticker designs, illustrative work, collages and more. I have recently become adept in Adobe Illustrate, Procreate and designing for informative purposes, creating items like posters, brochures, proposal documents and Point of Sale materials. Pricing depends on the complexity of the work involved, so please do get in contact if you are interested.
Activism
I arguably began my journey into environmental activism at birth, thanks to the wonderful guidance of my parents (a primary school teacher and a botanist).However, the real work began in 2016; when I joined Greenpeace as a 16 year old, and began working in environmental communication and change-making strategy in earnest. This path has shaped almost every aspect of my life, resulting in the deeply varied journey you see before you; years of pouring my time, energy and hope into meaningful, equitable, real climate justice.
You can download a pdf timeline of my activist work here.
Published Writing
You can find some of my work in such wonderful publications as:'The World We Want is Us', featuring my poem: 'Some Developments Are Unforeseeable''Tomorrow is Too Late: An International Youth Manifesto For Climate Justice' featuring my essay: 'Flygskam, Climate Justice and the Activist's Handbook'.Rooted Magazine Issue 2: Featuring my poem, 'How does a garden grow?'Compendia Travel Guide: featuring my writing on nature trails and sustainable shopping spots across NorwichVarious UEA anthologies such as:
Any Last Words: Tales of Extinction, Adaptation and Mitigation
On The Line, for which I also designed and illustrated the cover jacket
Word Vomit Zine, which I illustrated in full.I have also been published in various independent zines such as QT zine, Light Tunnel, Just Snails, Fanning the Flame and Undergrowth, co-created with illustrator Sarah Rigby.My articles have been featured in The Tab, Concrete Newspaper, Outline Magazine and online (notably at Aimhi. Earth, Gwak.co and The Wildlife Trusts). I tend to write articles about visual arts, music journalism, sustainable fashion, nature preservation and environmental science writing.
Content Creation
I really enjoy making creative social media content, and feel very at home on the internet. You can find examples of my social media content creation here:
Promoting the sUStain climate anxiety therapy programme
Creating how-to content for The Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild campaign
Creating a beginner-friendly lazy ways to save the planet series for Rewriting Extinction
Acting as the internet's tour guide for COP26 in Glasgow for Rewriting Extinction
Creating my own content (both comedically nature-focused and queerly comedic)
Designing and orchestrating the social media strategy and all associated content, graphics and POS materials for Sizzle Innovation's latest campaign, Enrich the Earth.
About Meg Watts
(she/they)
The Basics
Meg Watts is a writer, artist and climate justice activist with a passion for plants, printmaking and poetry. They currently live in Manchester, following 4 years exploring the flatlands of Norwich.Despite their current home amidst Manchester's red brick palisades, Meg grew up in the valleys and stone circles of Wiltshire. They miss the magick (and the solitude), but they have a talent for uncovering wyrdness and oddities in plain view. During their time in East Anglia, Meg founded the locally infamous account, @wyrdnorwich, and founded Right to Roam Norwich, East Anglia's first branch of the Right to Roam campaign. Since leaving Norfolk, Meg's work focuses more on researching the folklore, ordinary rituals and potted history of England for a novel in progress.
Meg's creative work falls into two categories; the comical and the critical. They make everything from new weird fiction, to LGBTQ+ essays, to linoprints, to tragicomedies about imploding polycules and illustrations of all the above.At the moment, Meg is using visual art and storytelling to explore the complexities of nature, climate change and the historical power structures that shape our relationships with the natural world today. Their current work explores the impacts of colonialism and capitalism on queer Britons and immigrants in the countryside – using creative writing to interrogate the question of who “belongs” in nature.
Outside of their creative work, Meg campaigns for global climate justice, land access, accessible climate education and inclusivity in conservation with organisations ranging from Climate Live, to Right to Roam, to Rewriting Earth, to UK Youth for Nature, to the Wildlife Trusts, to London's Natural History Museum. Environmental and social activism are huge parts of their life, and have formed the basis for their career over the past 6 years.
Meg graduated from the University of East Anglia with a first class honours in BA English Literature and Creative Writing in 2022. Following their graduation, they jumped straight into working as Norfolk Wildlife Trust's inaugural Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer, before seconding to the Royal Society of the Wildlife Trust. Meg then worked as lead on a national digital innovation project in partnership with the Young Foundation; learning the ropes of effective, inclusive system design.Meg moved to Manchester in 2023, when they began work as the Campaign Designer for Sizzle innovation's 'Enrich the Earth' system-changing campaign. This meant taking on a head of communications role at age 24, whilst working flexibly in an innovative start-up environment.After a short sabbatical, Meg is now looking for work; this is the first break they've had from working since they started in the pub at age 14. There is pleasure in having more free time, however they're itching for the thrill of collaboration and progress in a work environment.
Get in touch
*I am happy to:
- Speak at events
- Deliver workshops
- Write articles or creative pieces
- Design and illustrate
- Create custom content (such as short-form videos)
- Perform A/B tests and social media performance analysis
- Consult on issues ranging from inclusive language, to inclusive system design, to co-design, to inclusive youth engagement and more.Please input your information below if any of these skills are of interest for you or your organisation.
I look forward to hearing from you!