Widely acknowledged to be Prince Edward Islands greatest poet, Milton Acorn was born in Charlottetown in 1923 and died there in 1986. A significant contributor to the Canadian literary scene of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, he counted Al Purdy, Eli Mandel, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton and Patrick Lane among his friends. The original Peoples Poet, Acorn received a medal and cash prize from his peers at Torontos Grossmans Tavern in 1970 when his selected poems, Ive Tasted My Blood, failed to win the Governor Generals Award. He went on to receive Canadas highest literary honour for The Island Means Minago, published in 1975. Acorn was the author of ten books of poetry, and, with Cedric Smith, he co-authored the play, The Road to Charlottetown. Although he lived in various Canadian cities between 1951 and 1981, Acorns finely tuned homing instincts always brought him back to the Island.
