From 1972 Harding switched from photography to writing full-time. He published four short PB novels in Cassel's (aust.) education series for reluctant readers : The Fallen Spaceman, Children of Atlantis, The Frozen Sky & Return to Tomorrow. The success of this series was beyond expectations: the time was right to introduce the genre more widely in Australia. His first adult novel, A WORLD OF SHADOWS, followed in 1976 (Robert Hale, London) and in the same year he edited the seminal Australian SF anthologies BEYOND TOMORROW and THE ALTERED I, with assistance from Rob Gerrand and Ursula K. Le Guin, and followed this with ROOMS OF PARADISE in 1978, which was also published in the U.S. and U.K. Several stories from the latter were also re-printed in the annual U.S. publication, THE YEAR'S BEST SF. Four SF novels followed, culminating in the ground-breaking classic DISPLACED PERSON, adapted from his earlier short story, and his winning the Children's Book of The Year Award in 1980 accelerated the acceptance of the "young adult" genre to Australian fiction. With HEARTSEASE, he finally moved away from science fiction with his first mainstream novel, also for the young adult market. Harding has also written short stories using the pseudonym, Harold G Nye.
