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The March Hare

Location: Corner Brook, St. John's, Gander, Deer Lake and Rocky Harbour, NL; Toronto, ON and Halifax, NS
NLAC Program Funded Under: Professional Festivals Program
Amount Funded: $10,000

Dates: March 2 to 11, 2012
Website: http://themarchhare.ca
Artist Contact: Randall Maggs
Artist E-mail: rmaggs@swgc.mun.ca

The March Hare was born for a social purpose, and because Al Pittmann was such a great supporter of writing and the arts- growing the festival in to a beloved and anticipated annual event. Although it started with humble beginnings at the Blomidon Golf Club in Corner Brook (thanks to Al Pittman, Rex Brown and George Daniels) it now has a footprint in five Newfoundland and Labrador locations and two outside the province. There are also strong connections with Europe, forged when seven events were scheduled throughout Ireland in 2007 to mark the festival’s 20th anniversary. That same year also saw a commemorative anthology published by Breakwater Books, that features the work from many of the festival’s loyal artist participants including its founder, Al Pittman as well as Michael Ondaatje, Paul Durcan, Wayne Johnston, Des Walsh, Michael Crummey, Lisa Moore, Alistair MacLeod and Bernice Morgan.

The festival is intended to be casual and welcoming. There are no formal workshops or strict schedules to adhere to. Just a series of events that are left to run organically with artists commited to giving their very best, to which an audience can fully invest in. The March Hare is founded in the Newfoundland and Labrador tradition of a kitchen party, and many evening events extend into the wee hours of the morning. While the festival has evolved from being a showcase of talent from a local region to becoming so much bigger, the fact remains that both organizers and those that seek out the festival are all in search of the same thing- a memorable, meaningful artistic experience unlike any other.

Q & A with Randall Maggs...

NLAC: Who takes part in the March Hare for the most part?

Randall: The interest has always been to promote the literature and music of Newfoundland and Labrador and to entertain an audience. What we have managed to do over the years is promote more artists to an increasingly larger audience. We've also fully realized the importance of promoting the work of emerging artists.

NLAC: How is March Hare different, in terms of the level of engagement the artists provide?

Randall: What I've seen from my own experience at literary festivals across the country is that writers tend to fly in, read their work or sit on a panel, and fly out without taking in much of the rest of the festival. Rex Brown refers to the Hare as a "gathering." That's how Al envisioned it from the start. That's how it struck me as a reader in the first March Hare at the Blomidon Club so long ago. The informal program usually slides into an even more informal session after. The writers and musicians, especially our regulars, tend to stick around for the whole experience and, in my opinion, that's what makes it special not only for our audiences, but our presenters.

NLAC: In the events, how does the transition happen from the readings to hearing the music? How do they interweave?

Randall: Part of the reason for the success of the March Hare is that it tries always to be audience-friendly. We set out the programs in the careful way a baseball manager makes up his batting order. We know, for example, who would make a good number two hitter. At least we think we do. We want to keep the show moving and pay close attention to length of presentation and variety. Or we might just forget all that and put a writer up on the stage with a singer. Whatever works.

NLAC: How does High School Hare work? The schedule says there will be six students involved?

Randall: One of our primary interests is in providing a platform for emerging writers. The number two presenter at the Saturday night show, Pittman's Fancy, for example, is always an unidentified "new poet." We have a sophisticated and very supportive audience here in Corner Brook and they wait with great interest to see who will be appearing in that slot. In addition, we have the High School Hare, where six young people from this area have five minutes to read from their own work.

NLAC: How many attendees’ does the festival attract? Where do they come from? How far and wide?

Randall: Last year we estimated that we had over 2,000 people in our collective audience. We do have some people who come from quite a distance for these shows, some of whom are Newfoundland and Labradorians who organize trips home to coincide with the March Hare. We've had an increasing number of inquiries lately from people outside Newfoundland and Labrador interested in following the island portion of the March Hare from show to show.

NLAC: Is there a way for people to get a festival pass of sorts? Or just pay per event?

Randall: Given what they'd have to pay for travel between the events, I don't think that anyone wanting to take in the entire Festival, or even a majority of the events, would be worried about saving a bit by buying a season pass. Besides our rates are so reasonable (there's no charge for some events), I don't think there's a need for a reduced rate. As well, under the umbrella of the overall organizing committee, there are local organizers who set their own rates.

NLAC: Who are some of the visiting artists coming to the 2012 March Hare?

Randall: I'll mention just a few here. We have the Giller nominated Alexander MacLeod, as well as a great favourite on the island, Donna Morrissey, coming from Halifax. One of Canada's very strong young poets, Elizabeth Bachinsky, I've been trying to get her here for a few years now, is coming from Vancouver. We have the award-winning Spoken Word Poet, Karl Parkinson, coming from Ireland. These are the people coming from the furthest away. From the here, we have Jessica Grant and Craig Francis Power making their first appearance at the March Hare. As well, I'm really looking forward to the music this year. We have some of our invaluable regulars like Pam Morgan, Anita Best, Daniel Payne and Des Walsh. We also have the Byrnes and Baxter Wareham. Other veterans taking part include musicians Ron Hynes, Kevin Blackmore, and Denis Ryan, and we have two great young song-writers in Andrew O'Brien and Matthew Hornell. I'm bound to have left someone out here, apologies...

NLAC: What are you looking forward to seeing or taking in the most in this year’s festival?

Randall: I always enjoy the performers but what continues to amaze me is how much I enjoy our audiences and this includes those at our newest venues as well, Deer Lake, Halifax and Rocky Harbour. I know Rex Brown feels the same way. And Rosie Myers (and there you have the March Hare Committee in its entirety). There's a lot of work involved in all of this, but it always feels worthwhile when you see how much our audiences appreciate the hard work and art of our presenters.

NLAC: What would you say to folks who might be considering visiting one of the events?

Randall: When we're thinking of artists to invite, we always consider how strong their work is, of course. But we also consider how we think they will relate to the family of presenters and to the audiences (patrons as Rex calls them) that we've built up over the years. If you are someone considering coming to a Hare event for the first time, grab on. I think you'll wonder why you took so long!