Innocence Regained: The Christmas Poems 2025-1969 - V. B. Price

In 1969, V. B. Price wrote a small poem that he gave to his friends and loved ones for Christmas. He has continued that tradition each year ever since. This second edition of Innocence Regained collects 49 of those intimate, inquisitive, and inspired poems & poem series, updated with several years’ worth of new poems. Proudly printed on creme paper with a matte laminate cover.

The original first edition, published in 2020, is a New Mexico True Certified book. Limited copies are still available.

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About the author

V. B. Price has been working, as he says, to repair his ignorance since he came to New Mexico in 1958 at the age of eighteen. He studied anthropology and philosophy at the University of New Mexico and has been publishing poetry since 1962. He’s worked continuously as a reporter and an environmental and political columnist for nearly as long. His column currently runs at mercmessenger.com. He had the great privilege of teaching at UNM’s School of Architecture and Planning and in UNM’s Honors College for more than three decades. In 2021, he received the New Mexico Literary Arts Gratitude Award for contributions to the life of the poetry community in New Mexico and the Southwest. He lives in Albuquerque.

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Praise for Innocence Regained

“Innocence Regained is an extraordinary collection. ... Price’s magical ability to instill authentic childhood wonder with wicked humor and mature wisdom makes this book unique. ... I am stunned and often moved to a release of tears by the depth of this poet’s humanity and the brilliance of his craft.”

– Margaret Randall, author of I Never Left Home: Poet, Feminist, Revolutionary

“In these poems we see a man who decides to open his arms and embrace the world for its goodness, its badness, its sorrow and joy. Nothing is immune from his celebrating life.”

– Jimmy Santiago Baca, author of When I Walk Through That Door, I Am

“V. B. Price is a better poet than we deserve.”

– Daniel Abraham, co-author of the New York Times bestselling series The Expanse