Oillier

The Wordsmiths of Smithdown is a collaborative poetry collection from Liverpool poets B.W.Z. Oiller and Pablo Weston.

Oiller and Weston were born within a stone’s throw of each other, off Smithdown Road, Liverpool, and discovered a mutual love of poetry during their teenage years. During the Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020, the Wavertree duo decided to begin sending each other poetry, with the aim of compiling a joint collection. Over the following years, Oiller and Weston stitched together a rich tapestry of poetry, blending anecdote and myth, nostalgia and psychedelia, romance and philosophy, the humorous and the heartfelt. Expect cormorants, unicorns, gargoyles and a panther let loose in the Raz.

The collection features mostly individually penned poetry, written specifically for the collection, but also features several joint, collaborative poems, ranging widely in form, from sonnets and short Persian and Japanese-style poems, to a 100-page free-verse epic.

Rooted in Liverpool, but reaching far beyond it, The Wordsmiths of Smithdown blooms relentlessly with a pioneering spirit, celebrating friendship, place, and the enduring power of poetry.