[en] The masses of 39 neutron-rich nuclei in the mass range 17 to 37 have been measured using a direct time-of-flight technique following the fragmentation of a ⁴⁸Ca beam at 55 MeV/nucleon. The masses of ^29,30Ne, ^34,35Mg and ^36,37Al are reported for the first time. The very neutron-rich nuclei, ^31-33Na, are found to be 2-4 MeV less bound than previously believed. Comparison is made with recently available large scale shell model calculations encompassing the deformed A∼32 nuclei. Conclusions are drawn regarding the extent of the region of deformation, which is found to include ³⁰Ne