Island Sketchbook

by Frank Ledwell

With illustrations by Danny Ledwell

In Island Sketchbook, Prince Edward Island raconteur Frank Ledwell gives readers prose sketches of Island characters, anecdotes, and traditions that are richly rooted in the oral culture of the Island. Like any sketches, Frank Ledwell's keenly observed stories and vignettes lend artfulness to the everyday, giving shape to the scenes laid out in front of us that we might not notice until we have a pen in hand and a sense of purpose.

With characteristic warmth, generosity, and humour, Ledwell seamlessly weaves personal memoir and communal folk wisdom. Some of the 60-some stories are based on real people or incidents; others are fictionalized. But whether fact or fiction, there is no doubt that Island Sketchbook's stories evoke the true, remembered landscape of Ledwell's childhood at St. Peter's Bay on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, his experience as a student, teacher, and professor at St. Dunstan's University, and his later life as a professor, husband, and parent in rural Queen's County, Prince Edward Island. The sketches also evoke the author's love of people and place and mark his point of view as that of an inveterate Islander.

Praise for Island Sketchbook:

"The stories plumb worlds now vanished, from kitchens to colleges, and are told with affection, compassion, and a wry Island wit: there are enough punchlines here to humble a heavyweight."

-- Dr. Edward MacDonald, Department of History,

University of Prince Edward Island

"Within the pantheon of living Island poets, writers, and cultural practitioners, Frank Ledwell occupies an exalted and singular place."

-- Allan Rankin, Prince Edward Island singer-songwriter

Frank Ledwell has previously published one volume of prose and poetry, The North Shore of Home (Acorn Press, 2002) and two collections of poetry, Crowbush (Ragweed, 1990) and Dip & Veer: Reflections on the Art of Alex Colville (Acorn Press, 1996). He has performed as a popular storyteller with the trio "Crowbush" and with "Frank Ledwell and Friends" in venues across Prince Edward Island. Frank Ledwell is a Professor Emeritus of the English Department of the University of Prince Edward Island, where he taught English and creative writing for many years. He was the first recipient of the PEI Council of the Arts' Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Literary Arts. In December 2004, he was named Prince Edward Island's Poet Laureate.