What the wild does to us: Nick Acheson and Harriet Mead in conversation as part of Norwich Book Festival

Over more than a decade, Norfolk Wildlife Trust Ambassador Nick Acheson has written a column for Norfolk Magazine, championing the wildlife of our county. In spring 2026, in celebration of NWT’s centenary, 60 of those articles were brought together in This Wild Dream – a portrait of Norfolk Wildlife Trust through its places, people, species and ambitions.

In parallel, Nick has worked for more than a year with the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) at Massingham Heath. From 2025 to 2026, over 30 artists visited Massingham to document – in drawing, painting, sculpture and print – the restoration of 900 acres of biodiverse grassland and the exuberant wildlife that has returned. This Healing Heath is SWLA’s celebration of that transformation: a West Norfolk valley given back to nature, rendered in art and in Nick’s words.

Two books, two ways of seeing, one landscape. SWLA President Harriet Mead and Nick Acheson approach the natural world from different directions – one through paint and line, one through language – but they share a conviction that paying attention to wild places matters deeply. In this far-reaching, light-hearted conversation, they explore nature restoration in Norfolk, what wild habitats do to us as human beings, and why we have always needed to capture the living world in art, in words and in song.

This event is part of Norwich Book Festival. Norwich Book Festival | A Celebration of Stories

Ticket income helps support Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s work protecting wildlife and wild places across the county. For this event we have included a Supporter ticket for those who would like to support Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s work protecting wildlife and wild places while enjoying an evening of conversation.

Click here for details.