Charlie O'Hay

  • Smoking In Elevators

    Lucky Bat Books is delighted to offer the second book of poetry by acclaimed author and poet, Charles O’Hay
     
    Charlie's previous work, Far From Luck, was proclaimed as “…gritty, keen and sympathetic without being condescending…Some of his imagery is especially striking, made all the more so by his clear, straightforward language throughout” by Kirkus Reviews.

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    Far From Luck

    At the crossroads where the Great Depression and the Great Recession meet, Charles O'Hay's poignant and often edgy words remind us just how quickly and easily one can become FAR FROM LUCK.

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  • The Short Story

    Poet | Photographer 

    Charlie's poems have appeared in over 100 journals, including Mudfish, West Branch, Painted Bride Quarterly, Cortland Review, Gargoyle and The New York Quarterly. He is the recipient of a 1995 Fellowship in Poetry from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. 
     
    "Far from Luck" (2011, Lucky Bat Books) is his first collection of poems and photographs. His second book, "Smoking In Elevators" was published by Lucky Bat in December 2014.

    Since 2010, Charlie's ongoing photo series "Everyone Has a Name" has shared images and stories of the homeless in Center City Philadelphia to promote understanding, dignity, and an end to homelessness in America.

  • Books & More

    Smoking In Elevators

    2014
    Lucky Bat is delighted to offer the second book of poetry by acclaimed author and poet, Charles O’Hay, whose previous work, Far From Luck, Kirkus proclaimed as “…gritty, keen and sympathetic without being condescending…Some of his imagery is especially striking, made all the more so by his clear, straightforward language throughout.”

    Far From Luck

    2011
    At the crossroads where the Great Depression and the Great Recession meet, Charles O'Hay's poignant and often edgy words remind us just how quickly and easily one can become FAR FROM LUCK.
     

    Everyone Has A Name 

    Photographs of Philly's Homeless 
    From Philadelphia Weekly on why Charlie started this project:
     
    "To de-stigmatize homelessness and to change this view that homelessness is the end—that people just go from there to the grave. That’s a terrible misconception—that the homeless are somehow reckless or doomed. People get out of it all the time. You just don’t hear about it. I’m hoping in the future of this project, I’ll get to connect with people who have been out from the system, homelessness or addiction and document their story."
     

  • Published Poems

    A sampling of my published work from around the web.

    Painted Bride Quarterly

    Apiary

    "The History of Fog"

    Shark Reef

    "Big Bang Theory"

    Contraposition

    "Catapults"

    Northwind

    3 Poems

    Empty Sink Publishing

    2 Poems

    The Waggle

  • Recent Press

    Widely published offbeat poet/photographer Charlie O’Hay will read from his works starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, at Chestnut Hill Gallery, 8117 Germantown Ave. The event, sponsored by Musehouse, a supporter of writers and the literary arts in the region, will also include prominent Israeli-American poet Hanoch Guy and an open mic for local residents who would like to read from their own works.

    Philadelphia's ties to poetry are simply undeniable. If not because of the city's connection to famous poets like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe, then because you can catch poetry slams and readings just about any day of the week -- verses that add mood and ambience to cafes, subway cars, classrooms, bars and live venues across the city. Artistically, the poem is as essential to Philadelphia's identity as the cheesesteak. And in recent years, the city's evolved to become not just one that breeds poets, but a city that attracts them.

    Every day at noon, Charlie O'Hay orders a cheeseburger and writes poetry at Little Pete's Restaurant in Philadelphia. After eating, he walks downtown to interview and take pictures of homeless people.

    When Charlie O’Hay started photographing Philadelphia’s streets two years ago, he wanted to reconnect with a city vastly different from the one he moved to in 1967 as a 5-year-old boy. O’Hay thought viewing Philadelphia through a camera lens would help reacquaint him. But what began as a recording of the city’s transforming architecture soon evolved into a portrait of one particular urban element: the homeless.

  • PHOTOS

    A sampling of Charlie's latest shots.

    Bob
    Dwayne
    Philadelphia Phil
    Gary
    Wealth Gap

  • Hire Charlie

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  • CONTACT

    For more information about Charlie and his projects, feel free to contact him directly.

    charles.ohay@gmail.com
    215-380-2502
© 2014