Welcome to poet, photographer and musician, Oz Hardwick's official web site, where you will be able to find details of his readings, publications and general news.

Latest:

Stairwell Books have just published The Green Man Awakes, an anthology of poetry and images inspired by that most enigmatic of figures. The title is from Oz's award-winning poem, and the collection itself is rather impressive. For full details, email the editor, Rose Drew, at: rose@stairwellbooks.com

Oz has been confirmed as a performer at this year's Beverley Folk Festival, with no less than three (count 'em!) appearances.

Subterranean Homesick Yorkshire Blues, a show featuring Oz, Paul Coleman (Sixpenny Wayke), Helen Burke, Miles Cain and Dave Gough, continues to exceed expectations, having recently sold out two nights at York's Theatre Royal Studio. Read a review here. There is now a book of the show, published by Indigo Dreams Press at £5.99. To order a copy, mail dr_oz@dr.com.

The Connecticut Review's Writers in the Attic radio show has once again featured readings by Oz. The Fall 2008 broadcast is available as a podcast by clicking here.

Oz's work continues to spread like Marmite (you either love it or...), including poems in: Ice Blue Mornings, ed. Ronnie Goodyer (Indigo Dreams Press, 2008); Exhibitionists, ed. Rose Drew (Stairwell Books, 2008); HQ, Dawn Treader and The Slab.

Transmission 11 contains a new short story by Oz, 'Fin de Siecle Chocolate'.

The Birth of Venus

Because of the sea and the salt on your skin,

the slip of weed on sand, I

bend to the smooth horizon

of your concentration.

White fingers, still

untanned by sun, move

through mesh of past and future, balanced

on the far coast of recent war. Here

on the shore we remember to forget, yet

behind us lie ruins, but

before:

Here is your hair, blown wild,

your breast, welcoming

worlds to come. We

wait for the sun. Like Venus,

you rise from your shell, your body

offering

the promise of peace.

This, indeed, is ours

because of the sun and the salt on your skin.

From Carrying Fire. Also included in The Book of Hopes and Dreams, ed. Dee Rimbaud (bluechrome, 2006).

All photos of Oz on this site by Sue Whitehouse