When Canadian icon and original Canadian People s Poet Milton Acorn was passed over for the Governor General s Award for his 1969 collection I ve Tasted My Blood, several of his peers, including Margaret Atwood, Pat Lane and Mordecai Richler, established the People s Poetry Award, which they presented to Milton at a ceremony at Grossman s Tavern in Toronto in 1970. When I ve Tasted My Blood was re-issued in 1978 by Steel Rail Publishing, Milton wrote corrections and edits for the new edition on a copy of the original book. Milton Acorn: The People s Poet reproduces that copy of I ve Tasted My Blood with Milton s handwritten notes. It also includes never-before-published photographs of Milton taken by Kent Nason, a studio recording of Milton reading many of his poems, and a 1971 documentary film about Milton Acorn made by Kent Martin and Errol Sharpe. Though Milton Acorn died in 1986 at a young age, the prolific poet, writer and playwright is still remembered as one of Canada s greatest poets. This one-of-a-kind multi-media collectors item and memorial is a must have for everyone who counts themselves a fan of the original Canadian People s Poet."

Filmed/photographed by: Kent Nason