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Jim Harwood was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire in September 1959, "about the same time as rock'n'roll" the third son of Jim Harwood Snr, a Coalminer. For whatever reasons, his "real" mother left a couple of years later, never to be seen again. Jim Harwood Snr. married again, to Mavis, who brought up young Jimmy as her own, along with their son Christopher. Jim Harwood Snr. died at home in February 1972 after a lengthy and debilitating illness. Mavis Harwood died in Pontefract General Infirmary on 12th January 2003. At the King's School, Pontefract, Jim was pushed into the Rapid Stream, "life among the swots!" which meant, separated from his only friend, he skipped the 3rd year and went straight from the 2nd to the 4th year, taking his 'O' Levels at 15. He was notorious for being disruptive in classes and antisocial in the playground, and made few friends, spending most of his time cycling endlessly and aimlessly around Yorkshire and Derbyshire, often alone, also with long time buddy Roy Herrington. After 'O' Levels he left school and home to live with his eldest brother Stephen, an Architect who was then practicing in Hayfield, Derbyshire. A succession of dead-end jobs left him disillusioned and, moving back to Yorkshire to live in Leeds, where, working as a barman at the Cardigan Arms, Kirkstall Road, serving hand-pulled Tetley's to "a barfull of bastards" he pursued his love of painting. It was in Leeds, during a spell in the Psychiatric Unit of St. James' Hospital, he met the artist Michael Dean, then the Art Therapist, which was the beginning of a long and fruitful friendship. "Sick of going Nowhere" Jim managed to wangle a place on a Fine Art course at Leicester Polytechnic and moved south to the Midlands in 1979, though the Art College experience was to prove worse than school, "too much talkin', not enough doin'" and led to a long period of creative inactivity and another string of dead-end jobs. During this time Jim roamed the country as a "Professional Hitch-Hiker", aimlessly wandering anywhere and everywhere, taking photos, making notes, and "Having a good think". After working in a few Leicester Bars and Restaurants, his friend Pete the Chef directed him to a backstreet late night dive called The Attik - "A tiny upstairs room with live music till 2a.m. - Heaven!" Beginning as Chef, Jim worked there from 1985 - 1989, when he was forced to leave the confines of the kitchen due to ill-health, and after a brief bout of depression, he one day packed a rucksack and moved to York, where he spent a year living on the gloriously named PONDEROSA CARAVAN SITE (believe it or not, a residential caravan site, a burned out Nightclub, and a busy scrapyard in the middle of Nowhere!) near Sutton-on-the-Forest in the Vale of York. Here he was reclusive and spent much of his time writing and painting. The Yorkshire Art Circus gave Jim his first platform as a Performance Poet, as part of a review to mark the opening of an exhibition of paintings by redundant coalminers in Wakefield. A BBC2 producer was present at the debut, and wanted Jim to be part of an Open Space documentary about the Art Circus, setting up a repeat performance in Featherstone Library to be filmed. The elders of the Yorkshire Art Circus were against this. Jim turned up very late, very pissed, and his remarkable performance was never screened. After a year, Jim felt the need to return to some kind of civilisation, and returned in 1989 to Leicester to resume working at The Attik. Armed with a whole bunch of poems the publishers wouldn't touch, (apart from one, "One Of Those Mornings",which was grudgingly published in a Leeds based Arts mag called Left to Write. The editor, presumably female, took it upon herself to chide Jim on its sexist viewpoint...see if you can spot it!) Jim began to frequent the local folk clubs, notably The Merry Cherry and The Open Conspiracy, performing outrageous and incendiary floor-spots, and earning himself a formidable reputation. Teaming up with such performers as Kevin Hewick, Ian Derbyshire, Vikki Clayton, Dave Irving and Russ Middleton, Jim performed anywhere he could, to mixed reviews. 1990 saw the self-publication of his first book "DESPERATE MEASURES - DISPARATE IMAGES", a limited edition of 200 copies which sold out within the year, and he went on in 1991 to produce a second volume, "STEAMIN'" which again sold well. "Some copies still available!" Jim also recorded a live cassette; "NO HOLDS BARD", recorded by Geoff Overon at the Attik. The reason for this was that Jim believes the best way to appreciate Poetry is to read and hear it simultaneously. Though by no means a masterpiece, this too sold well. By now Jim Harwood was performing nationally, touring with Underground Blues Hero and author John B. Spencer, and supporting such people as Kieran Halpin, The Nelson Brothers and Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick. Meanwhile, down at the Attik, Jim had progressed from Chef to Manager to Licensee. With the grand reopening of The Magazine Pub in 1992, Jim was asked to host a regular poetry night, which lasted for two and a half years and sparked off other new ventures, notably Rob Gee's "Bright Side" (still going strong) and "Silver Tongues" (which always did have a bit of a limp). In 1994 tragedy struck when Jim was almost fatally stabbed late one night in an unprovoked attack outside The Attik by Killian Dragonwolf (no kidding!). Jim spent 3 days in intensive care, and a further 9 days in hospital, eventually making a full physical recovery, but left severely traumatised by the incident. Through Kevin Hewick, Jim met long-time cabaret musician Paul Allatson, who was facing retirment from his band The Munix, and was looking for new and diverse projects with which to become involved. From this meeting grew the "TIGHTROPEWALKIN'"project, a CD of poetry and music, featuring many of Jim Harwood's friends, and a quite unique product (see reviews). During the making of this album, Jim placed a small advert in the back of Mojo, asking for fellow poets worldwide to make contact, and a letter from the other side of Leicester led directly to a wedding in August 2000 in Dolgellau, North Wales, to Angie James. Mr. & Mrs Harwood now have two children, Jasmine Elizabeth Katherine Harwood and Dylan James Harwood. Jim Harwood is still performing, better than ever. Just try and stop him!
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