As West Country folks have done for centuries, I’m preparing to depart from balmy Plymouth for blustery Newfoundland for a week on the road with The March Hare, Atlantic Canada’s largest and certainly most eclectic poetry festival, in which:
Traditional stories alternate with contemporary poems, emerging writers appear alongside established writers, local performers share the stage with performers from all over the world, and all of them are accorded the same courtesy. While long-term achievement may be given the nod of respect in the form of an extra two or three minutes at the podium, the time allotments are tight and more or less equal. There are no stars at the March Hare.
I’ve been timing various pieces and it turns out everything I’ve ever written can be read aloud in eight minutes and thirty seconds. I’ll be reading a mix of new and old work, including Air Holes, Notes on the Voyage of Owl and Girl, and Once Upon a Tide, a print iteration of which will appear in Arc Poetry Magazine this month.
Mostly I’m just looking forward to listening, meeting new people, and getting to see more of this wonderfully wild island.
Here are my dates:
Tuesday, March 7th, 8:00
Chidley’s Place, Renews
Wednesday, March 8th, 8:00
St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, Tilting, Fogo Island
Thursday, March 9th, 7:30
Gander Hotel, Gander
Friday, March 10th, 8:00
Swirsky’s, Corner Brook
The full program is online here: http://themarchhare.ca/2017-programme/