Poet Laureate of Prince Edward Island
2004 - 2007

Frank was a popular storyteller and Professor Emeritus of the English Department of the University of Prince Edward Island, where he taught English and creative writing for many years. His books with Acorn Press are The Taste of Water, a collection of poems, Island Sketchbook, which combines fiction and memoir to reflect the life of Prince Edward Island in the mid-twentieth century; The North Shore of Home, fiction and poetry that evoke Ledwell's home community of St. Peter's Bay during the Depression and the Second World War; and Dip & Veer, poetry inspired by the visual art of Canadian painter Alex Colville. He was also author of the poetry collection Crowbush and has produced a CD of poetry in performance, Being Islanders, with fiddler Roy Johnstone.

photo supplied to the C.B.C. from the family

Frank Ledwell was the first recipient of the P.E.I. Council of the Arts' prestigious Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Literary Arts in PEI, in 1985. He received the Wendell Boyle Memorial Award for Creative Writing in 2003, the Charlottetown Royalty Rotary’s Mentorship Award in 2004, and the Order of Prince Edward Island in 2006. He became the Island's second Poet Laureate in January 2005.

He was the parent of six adult children and had one grandchild at the time of his passing. He lived on a small farm on the Loyalist Road with his wife, Carolyn.