Daniel Payne, left, and Des Walsh from a 2007 March Hare.
"Tell us a story!" said the March Hare to the Dormouse. To which Alice added, "Yes, please do." And the Mad Hatter agreed, "and be quick about it."
Among many other things, Newfoundlanders love a good story, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is better than most. It is in that spirit that the celebration known as the March Hare happens annually across Newfoundland and select other places, including Toronto's Gladstone Hotel, where it all begins on March 7.
All told, writers, songsters and poets will gather on 17 occasions over two weeks for modest events modelled after the traditional Newfoundland soup supper and community concert. Indeed, it is all rather pot-luck, with stars such as writer Lisa Moore appearing at St. John's Masonic Temple and Fogo Island's St. Patrick's Parish Hall, while roots-rockers Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case shall turn up here, there and the Legion in Corner Brook, where spoken and sung words are food for thought.
So remember what the Dormouse said: "Feed your head."
Brad Wheeler