The March Hare is a former poetry festival in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and was the largest poetry festival in Atlantic Canada prior to 2018. It started in 1987 or 1988 as an evening of poetry and entertainment at the Blomidon Golf and Country Club in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, designed to appeal to a general audience. The March Hare takes its name from the

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. According to Rex Brown, the name is also intended as a pun on the words ''here'' (celebrating a sense of place) and ''hear'' (since its focus is the spoken word). The Hare takes place in March each year. Loosely associated with the

Grenfell Campus Grenfell Campus, formerly Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, is a campus of the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). It is located in the city of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The campus has approximately 1,300 students enroll ...

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and i ...

through the leadership of poet-organizer Al Pittman and the involvement of other writers who taught at Grenfell, the Hare was equally the brain-child of teacher Rex Brown and club manager George Daniels. Although still anchored in Corner Brook, the event annually travels to St. John's and Gander, Newfoundland, Toronto, Ontario, and other venues, provincial, national and international. In 2007, The March Hare visited seven centers in Ireland, including Dublin and Waterford.Fowler, Adrian, "Introduction", ''The March Hare Anthology'' (St. John's: Breakwater Books, 2007), v-vi. In 2011, March Hares were mounted in Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. As its reputation has grown, the March Hare has featured in recent years

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Lorna Crozier Lorna Crozier, OC (born 24 May 1948) is a Canadian poet who holds the Head Chair in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. She has authored fifteen books and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011. She is credited as ...

, Patrick Lane,

Susan Musgrave Susan Musgrave (born March 12, 1951) is a Canadian poet and children's writer. She was born in Santa Cruz, California, to Canadian parents, and currently lives in British Columbia, dividing her time between Sidney and Haida Gwaii. She has been n ...

, Stephen Reid, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Wayne Johnston,

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, Emiko Miyashita, Glen Sorestad, Michael Winter, Louise Halfe (Sky Dancer), John Ennis, Lisa Moore, and many others. Early contributors to the March Hare included Al Pittman,

John Steffler John Steffler (born November 13, 1947) is a Canadian poet and novelist. He served as Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate from 2006 to 2008. Biography John Steffler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 13, 1947, and grew up in a rural area n ...

, Randall Maggs, Adrian Fowler, David "Smoky" Elliott, Des Walsh, Clyde Rose, Nick Avis, and Pamela Morgan. In 2017, organizer Rex Brown announced that 2018 would be his last year running the festival. It held its final event at Corner Brook in March 2018, after a tour that included stops in

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and other locations in Newfoundland.

References

{{Reflist Festivals established in 1988 Festivals disestablished in 2018 March events Literary festivals in Canada Arts festivals in Newfoundland and Labrador Corner Brook 1988 establishments in Newfoundland and Labrador Poetry festivals in Canada 2018 disestablishments in Newfoundland and Labrador