Innocent

by Bob MacKenzie

"Innocent" is essentially a war crimes poem by Bob MacKenzie with a powerful message for us all. The book is designed to have the poem read aloud to an audience, and as such it takes on some unique features not seen before.

The text begins with a court document describing the charges of thirteen counts. The poem uses three voices; the major voice claims innocence from the charges, while the other two voices yell accusations. After the major voice finishes the first page of the poem, two powerful lino-block images by book artist Hugh Barclay fall from the book to be exposed and impact the audience. The poem and the blocks combine to deliver a powerful and dramatic image.

The book is published in a limited edition of 240 copies on acid-free materials, in two flights (the first with a red cover; the second with a green cover). The first flight has sold out.

10 pages, numbered limited edition art-book

Published January 1, 2008

About the author

Bob MacKenzie has been a full-time self-supporting professional writer in both the commercial and literary fields since 1965. He began his career as a writer, editor, and producer in print and broadcast media while pursuing a literary career. Since the late-Eighties, Bob's concentrated on his literary career, writing short stories, novels, and poetry (including song lyrics), and performing words with music live on stage and in recordings.

Bob grew up in a photo studio in mid-century rural Alberta with artist parents. His father was a professional photographer and musician and his mother a photo technician, colourist, and painter. At a very young age, he was given his own camera. Ever since he's been shooting photographs and writing poems and stories. Raised in this environment, he quickly developed a natural affinity for photography and for the intricacies of language.

Bob's poetry has appeared in nearly 500 journals across North America and as far away as Great Britain, Australia, Greece, India, and Italy. Over the past half-century, Bob has published 20 volumes of poetry and prose-fiction and his writing has appeared in many anthologies around the world.

Bob has received numerous local and international awards for his writing as well as an Ontario Arts Council grant for literature, a Canada Council Grant for performance, and a Fellowship to attend the Summer Literary Seminars in Tbilisi, Georgia.

With the ensemble Poem de Terre, for eighteen years Bob's poetry has been spoken and sung live with original music and the group has released six albums.