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A Blooming Great Day with Úna Woods

Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 1pm

It seems like just another ordinary day for Rosie and her grandad. But as soon as they step outside, they find themselves on a blooming great adventure around Dublin on the 16th of June, 1904!

The James Joyce Centre presented A Blooming Great Day with Úna Woods, children’s event of fun, mischief, and Joyce! Author and illustrator Úna Woods will read from her new children’s book A Blooming Great Day (The O’Brien Press) and lead a drawing workshop on Bloomsday (June 16th) at 2pm. The children will draw scenes from the book and design their own hats! This is a great way for children to be introduced to Joyce and to partake in Dublin’s great literary tradition.

Úna Woods is a children’s book illustrator and author who lives in Dublin with her husband and two children and their ginger cat. Her previous books include Have You Seen the Dublin Vampire? and A Spooktacular Place to Be, both published by The O’Brien Press. Úna loves working with bright colours and patterns. She also loves reading and running.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Breathe and Bloom

Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 11am

Happenings Ireland in partnership with the James Joyce Centre was proud to present Breathe and Bloom, a truly unique Bloomsday celebration of health, wellness, and yoga (yes, really!) on Sunday, June 16th at 11am in Brighton Square.

James Joyce was born in 1882 at 41 Brighton Square. What better way to celebrate Bloomsday than by gathering where it all began! Breathe and Bloom is a unique blend of traditional Bloomsday celebrations and wellness exercises.

Ulysses is not often thought about in terms of health and fitness but the novel provides a glimpse into the burgeoning wellness movement that would develop extensively in the 20th century. Leopold Bloom is conscious of his body and the need to maintain it through exercise and diet, even if he is not so vigilant in doing so! “Got up wrong side of the bed,” he thinks to himself. “Must begin again those Sandow’s exercises.” His wife, Molly, also has this on her mind: “I must do a few breathing exercises[.] I wonder is that antifat any good might overdo it.” The event will show this often-overlooked facet of Joyce’s work by combining a class by Yoga in the Park with a talk about health and fitness in Joyce’s work as well as old-fashioned readings and songs!

The event will start with Yoga in the Park’s regularly-scheduled class with Jo Collins from 11am to 12pm. It will then be followed by a half-hour talk about fitness, wellness and Joyce by Dr. Conor Heffernan, Lecturer in Sport Sociology at Ulster University. This talk will feature demonstrations of gentle stretching, dumbbell raising and deep breathing by Jo Collins. Audience participation is encouraged but not mandatory. After the talk, the park will host music and readings of Ulysses. The audience is welcome to bring food and drink to make a nice picnic!

Schedule:
11-12
: Happenings Yoga’s Yoga in the Park class with Jo Collins.
12-12:30: Talk and yoga demonstration by Dr. Conor Heffernan and Jo Collins about fitness, mindfullness, and yoga in Ulysses.
12:30-1:30: Music and readings.

Many thanks to the residents of Brighton Square for hosting the event.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and

Dubliners by Hibsen

Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 7:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host a unique musical interpretation of James Joyce’s Dubliners on Tuesday, 11 June 2024 at 7:30pm. Irish folk ensemble Hibsen payed homage to Joyce with performances of their critically acclaimed album “The Stern Task of Living.” The album is a collection of 15 songs, one for each short story in Dubliners. Through their original music and lyrics, Hibsen brings the stories to life.

For lovers of Joyce, these concerts provided a unique perspective on Dubliners. For those not familiar with the stories, the performances provided an ideal opportunity to get to know them in an intimate surrounding.

“The arrangements . . . and lyrics come from the pen of people who have spent a lot of time in Joyce’s world.” John Meagher, Irish Independent

“One might almost sense the spirit of Joyce himself strolling through these tracks. Better still, you don’t have to know the stories to savour this as a musical experience in its own right.” Jackie Hayden, Hot Press Magazine

Hibsen are a contemporary folk music ensemble formed by Irish artists Jim Murphy and Gráinne Hunt. They released their debut album “The Stern Task of Living” on 26 May 2023. The album was inspired by the book of short stories Dubliners by James Joyce and it comprises 15 songs, one for each short story. It was launched at Bloomsday Festival 2023 and it has received critical acclaim. Some of the songs from the album received extensive national and regional radio play with one of the songs (Eveline) reaching number 2 on the RTE Radio 1 Airplay Chart. The Stern Task of Living was also selected as a featured album on RTE Lyric FM and on BBC Radio Ulster.

Bloomsday Festival 2024 Launch & Reception

Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 6pm

On Tuesday, June 11th at 6pm the formal launch of this year’s Bloomsday Festival took place. The Bloomsday Festival was in full-swing this year with close to one-hundred separate events on June 11th-16th throughout Dublin. Our reception featured talks and readings (and some wine!) and celebrated another year of Bloomsday celebrations. We were joined by British artist Jo Hamill as she introduced our new art exhibition Gutter Words. French artist Rémi Rousseau was also on hand as he introduced his new art exhibition Ulysses: Illustrations. Join festival goers around Dublin and the world as we kick off this extraordinary time of the year!

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Midday Mumming Madness

Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 12pm

On Bloomsday, Sunday June 16th at 12pm The James Joyce Centre hosted some ‘midday mumming madness’ as the extraordinary talent of the Fingal Mummers explored mummery in Ulysses and other works of James Joyce in their production of Everyman His Own Wife.

Throughout Ulysses, Buck Mulligan calls Stephen “A lovely mummer!”; “Kinch, the loveliest mummer of them all!”; “O, you peerless mummer!” Mulligan declares that “I have conceived a play for the mummers” and launches into the title page of a lewd skit. The James Joyce Centre will be truly transformed as we watch the Fingal Mummers celebrate Bloomsday with comedy, music, mischief and song. Come witness this truly unique Irish tradition during this truly unique Irish festival.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR Premiere

Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 3pm

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to premiere the highly anticipated new exhibition Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR for the Bloomsday Festival. Step into the world of James Joyce’s masterpiece like never before with cutting-edge virtual reality technology. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Dublin as you follow in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom.

Modality of the Visible: Ulysses VR is an immersive VR project that takes you on a journey through the Dublin of 1904 so beautifully described in Joyce’s novel. The project aims to educate, entertain, and familiarise viewers with Joyce’s text in an interactive and visual way. Using state-of-the-art VR headset technology, you will be able to mount the gunrest of the Martello Tower, walk along Eccles Street, hang around the gentlemen at Barney Kiernan’s, and explore other settings of Ulysses. The purpose of this project is to merge the world of literature with an increasingly technological world. With an experimental design approach, Ulysses VR offers a novel understanding of Joyce’s writing, creating a unique learning experience in an immersive virtual environment.

The exhibition will be on permanent display at the James Joyce Centre. The project was developed by a team of Greek programmers and academics in collaboration with the University of Patras. We will be joined by Thanos Makris, the creator and project coordinator of Ulysses VR, and Christina Vassilaki, a project officer. Prof. Ahuvia Kahane (Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin) will deliver a talk about the classical and contemporary Greek references in Ulysses. The attendees, of course, will be welcome to try out the headset for themselves!

Ulysses VR Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HqXBAT7AI8

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

James Joyce and Antonio Smareglia

Bloomsday Festival 2024

15 June 2024 at 6:30pm

“Smareglia (who lives beside me) is held by many to be the most original of the living Italian musicians.” James Joyce, 1911

The James Joyce Centre was pleased to host James Joyce and Antonio Smargelia, a special Bloomsday Festival concert event that illustrates the connection between James Joyce, Antonio Smareglia, Trieste, and Pula, on June 15th at 7pm. The concert features performances of music excerpts from operas by Smareglia, the Italian-Croatian composer who was a friend and neighbour of Joyce while they both lived in Trieste.

Maltese pianist Charlene Farrugia-Božac and Croatian soprano Sofija Cingula will bring to life some of the music from operas that Joyce would have heard and admired at the time, from Smareglia’s student work Caccia lontana and Nozze Istriane (which Joyce heard in Trieste in 1908) to fragments from Oceana, Smareglia’s most novel work of music theatre known as teatro di poesia.

The event will include presentations by Croatian scholar Dr. Vito Paoletić (University of Pula) about Joyce’s time in Pula, as well as the city’s links to and celebrations of Bloomsday. Introduction about the musician Antonio Smareglia and his connection to James Joyce will be given by Dr. Juliana Licinic van Walstijn (Queen’s University Belfast), President of the Association Smaregliana.

The concert will be followed by a wine reception provided generously by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Dublin.

The concert is presented by Association Smaregliana in cooperation with the University of Pula and the James Joyce Centre and sponsored by the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Dublin.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton

Bloomsday Festival 2024

11 June 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre was proud to present a performance of John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton.

Stanislaus Joyce was the younger brother of James Joyce. Born in Dublin, Stanislaus was considered a “Whetstone” by his more famous brother, who shared his ideas and his books with him. He was three years younger than James and was his constant boyhood companion. Stanislaus rebelled against his native Ireland as his brother had done, and, in 1905, he joined James’s household in Trieste. He wrote an unfinished memoir called My Brother’s Keeper, on which the play John, May, James and Me by Eddie Naughton is based, along with other writings.

The play looked at the Joyce family dynamic through the eyes of Stanislaus, from their father, John, a feckless Cork character with notions, to the long-suffering mother, May. It also looks in depth at the relationship between the two brothers over many years. Their trials and tribulations. The good times and bad. What was it like having a literary genius as a brother? How do you stop him from destroying his gift and even himself?

Performed by Pat Nolan. Directed by Bairbre Ni Chaoimh.

Eddie Naughton is a playwright based in The Liberties area of Dublin. His play John, May, James and Me is a Joyce family memoir, based on the writings of Stanislaus Joyce. Other plays he has written include Bullfight on Third AvenueJoxer Daly Esq, The Exiling of Sean O’Casey, Adrian Phelan is Going Home, and a trilogy of drug plays (Franner and Joey, The Boy with the Halogyn Hair and The Trouble with Bobo).

Bairbre Ni Chaoimh is an actor, director and writer. She has toured nationally and internationally with all the major Irish theatre companies. She was an Associate Artist at the Abbey Theatre for three years and while Artistic Director of Calypso Productions she received an Irish Times award and a MAMA. Directing credits include three plays for The Gate Theatre’s Beckett Festivalwhich toured to The Barbican, London and The Lincoln Center, New York and Catalpa by Donal O’Kelly, which has won awards on three continents. She directed Noni Stapleton’s one-woman show, Charolais which received a host of awards including The Stewart Parker Award and The Little Gem Award. She recently directed the Irish premiere of Stumped, a play about Pinter and Beckett, for Bewleys Café Theatre.

Pat Nolan trained at DYT and The Focus Stanislavski Studio and appeared in many of their shows. He has an MA in Theatre from GSA/Maynooth University. He has acted, directed, and produced shows nationally and internationally. Stage work includes Cinderella and Borstal Boy at the Gaiety, 12 Angry Men at the Olympia, Risk Everything with Whirlygig, Uncle Vanya at the Gate, Oedipus and The Wake at the Abbey. He toured extensively with Take Off Your Cornflakes. Probably best known to audiences for playing Barry in Fair City, for which he won the Rose d’Or award in Switzerland.

The Bloomsday Festival was organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The Other Mrs Joyce on the Day Before Bloomsday

Bloomsday Festival 2024

15 June 2024 at 1pm

On June 15th at 1pm The James Joyce Centre was pleased to host The Other Mrs Joyce on the Day Before Bloomsday. Award-winning novelist Mary Morrissy will talk about and reads from Penelope Unbound (Banshee Press), her recently published counterfactual novel about Nora Barnacle. In it, she splits the Joyces up and gives Nora a wholly different life without him; she also plays matchmaker for Joyce and finds him a new wife. This event is about her.

On their arrival in Trieste in 1904, James Joyce left Norah Barnacle outside a railway station while he went to scare up money. He got embroiled in a fight with a couple of sailors and was locked up for his troubles. A penniless Norah was left alone for almost an entire day and night sitting on their suitcases at the station in a city where she knew no one and where she didn’t speak the language. In real life, Norah waited for him. This novel asks – what if she hadn’t? In Penelope Unbound, one of our greatest living novelists weaves a spellbinding speculative history. By unhooking Norah from her famous husband, Morrissy gives her a compelling new voice, with heartbreak and humanity all her own. Sensual, inventive and uproariously funny, Penelope Unbound reimagines a Joycean heroine for the 21st century.

Praise for Penelope Unbound:

“A novel of great brilliance and inventiveness, a remarkably – and mysteriously – moving story of what might have been. . . a stylistic tour de force that Joyce himself would surely have admired.” – John Banville, The Observer

“Given Nora’s iconic status, I’d say it took considerable courage and chutzpah to carry this novel off.” – Carlo Gebler, Irish Independent

“(a) compellingly reimagined Norah, who is, like the novel itself, richly compelling and startlingly alive” – Kevin Power, author of White City

Mary Morrissy is the author of four novels, Mother of PearlThe PretenderThe Rising of Bella Casey and most recently, Penelope Unbound. She has also published two collections of stories, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive. Her work has won her the Hennessy Prize and a Lannan Foundation Award. A member of Aosdána, she is a journalist, teacher of creative writing and a literary mentor. She blogs at https://marymorrissy.com and curates a website dedicated to the work of Dublin painter, Una Watters: https://unawattersartist.com.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble

Concert

8 June 2024 at 8pm in Christchurch Cathedral

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to endorse the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble’s marvalous concert at Christchurch Cathedral on 8 June 2024 at 8pm.

During this, people embarked on a journey to timeless beauty with the exquisite works of Mikołaj Zieleński, transporting you to 17th century Venice, where his music captivates the soul with its depth and richness. An enchanting evening as we journeyed through Zieleński’s “Offertoria et Communiones,” a breathtaking collection of compositions published in 1611. From Zieleński’s extensive repertoire of 113 surviving works, the Emsemble carefully selected pieces to craft a captivating narrative steeped in the rich tapestry of salvation history. Let yourself be transported through the ages with texts inspired by the grandeur of Old Testament tales, the poignant narratives of the Gospels.

An unforgettable evening of musical mastery, where Zieleński’s compositions proudly stand alongside those of the greatest masters of the era. Don’t miss this extraordinary celebration of classical music brought to you by the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble, under direction of ndrzej Kosendiak, renowned for their expertise in period instruments.

Mutliple awards winning Wroclaw Baroque Ensamble specializes in historical performance, uncovering lesser-known repertoire from Central Europe, particularly Polish Renaissance and Baroque music. Founded in 2012 by Andrzej Kosendiak, the ensamble operates under his artistic direction at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. Comprising exceptional instrumentalists and vocalists from Poland, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Germany, the group has a rich recording history. Their albums, featuring works by Polish baroque composers, are available on Spotify and distributed worldwide by Naxos. The ensemble has graced major international festivals and performed across Poland and Europe.

The project is generously funded by the Arts Council, and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Berenice Abbott, Joyce and the Creative Women

Bloomsday Festival 2024

14 June 2024 at 6:30pm

Images: Berenice Abbot, Portraits of Sylvia Beach, James Joyce, Lucia Joyce, and Nora Joyce, 1926-27, courtesy Clark Art Institute. Centre photgraph by Charles Norton, courtesy of A.G. Norton.

On June 14th at 6:30pm The James Joyce Centre was please to present Berenice Abbot, Joyce and the Creative Women, a personal Bloomsday Festival presentation on Berenice Abbott, a pioneering 20th-century photographer who took some of the most iconic portraits of Joyce and his family, and the community of creative, queer women who supported his career.

A chance discovery of a box of family photos in a basement in New Jersey led one woman to uncover Abbott’s seldom told artistic legacy. Follow storyteller, archivist, and social activist A.G. Norton on her personal journey through Abbott’s private archive revealing: letters written by Lucia Joyce to Berenice, personal commentary made by Berenice about her multiple photography sessions with the beloved author, and the intersections between the publication of Ulysses and the community of queer women who supported it.

Throughout the 1920s, Berenice Abbott’s life crisscrossed between Greenwich Village and Paris where, in addition to the Joyce family, she photographed and befriended fellow queer women including Margaret Anderson, Jane Heap, Djuna Barnes, Jannett Flanner, and Sylvia Beach. Hear of how their friendships and artistic endeavors all entwined with one another and the lessons and blessings their legacies leave behind.

Delighted to be joining the Bloomsday Festival from Connecticut, Norton will share her research into Abbott’s fascinating life which all started with the discovery of photos taken by her late grandfather and went onto interviews with both of Abbott’s biographers and personal friends, Julia Van Hafften and Hank O’Neal.

A.G. Norton has over 15 years experience in London as a social worker and children’s rights activist where she used her voice to publicly advocate for underserved, marginalized communities.

Returning to New York in 2018 she discovered her family’s personal connection and photographs of photographer Berenice Abbott and has spent the last three years gathering research into her remarkable life. Norton has written several performance pieces based on the photographic legacies she inherited and has toured them at the Brighton, Camden, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. Norton was the 2023 recipient of the Brighton Pride Award to support queer storytelling.

For more information on her work and international performances can be found at www.vivelapin.com or @notyouraverageslideshow on Instagram.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

The Dubliners Dilemma

Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 7pm

A “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald, Dublin) of The Dubliners Dilemma by Declan Gorman was on June 7th at 7pm.

The Dubliners Dilemma was premiered in Ireland in 2012 and has toured to Norway, USA, India, Russia (pre-Ukraine invasion) and all over Ireland. The play finds London publisher Grant Richards re-reading the manuscript of Dubliners in 1914, eight full years after he initially rejected it on the grounds it might breach strict obscenity laws. Joyce’s Dublin comes to wild life around him, a city of innocence and perversion: of sexual predators, gigolos, gamblers and drinkers mingling among street children, housemaids and exquisite concert singers. Entranced again by the literary gifts of the truculent Irish author who refused to change a single word, Richards must decide whether to take the risk second time around, and be the one finally to bring the genius of Joyce to the world.

Written and performed by Declan Gorman. Directed by Gerard Lee.

Declan Gorman is a highly regarded writer, director and performer. His previous Joyce performances The Dubliners Dilemma (2012) and Falling Through the Universe (2022) have toured widely in Ireland and overseas. In the week of Bloomsday, Declan will travel on to Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario with a selection of his Joyce works.

“Gorman holds the audience enraptured throughout with a truly mesmerising performance. This original adaptation is by no means exclusively for die-hard Joyce fans, making a brilliant introduction for newcomers!” Metro Herald, Dublin

“Gorman is a compelling performer, at his best when undertaking childhood roles and in his element with Joyce’s obsequious characters … an animated and intelligent performance.” Irish Theatre Magazine

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Ulysses for All 2024

Course

31 January — 5 June 2024

We were delighted to announce our annual Ulysses for All course. Join our global readership and guest speakers at the James Joyce Centre where Dr. Caroline Elbay will lead Ulysses for All 2024: “What is a Nation?” Ulysses and the World Today.

Course Details:
-Hybrid Zoom/In-Person at the James Joyce Centre
-Start Date: January 31st
-End Date: June 5th
-Time: Every Wednesday at 6-8pm GMT
-Fee: €200

The course description is below:

As we commence 2024 faced with myriad crises of humanity ranging from war and conflict in Europe and the Middle East, internal political unrest within the EU, continuing refugee crises, post-truth, fake news, etc., the sentiments of Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming” provide a chilling sense of prescience: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre…the centre cannot hold…Things fall apart…The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

In an attempt to consider the current world situation and attendant issues, Ulysses for All 2024 will focus on the question “What is a Nation?” and aim to arrive at a point where, even at a microcosmic level, an opportunity for what protagonist Leopold Bloom proclaims “I stand for the reform of …morals…New worlds for old…Union of all, jew, moslem and gentile…universal language with universal brotherhood” may be identified.

Ulysses is, without doubt, a pedagogic text – one that invites us to look into our own humanity and where Leopold Bloom undoubtedly constitutes Joyce’s attempt to embody the most humane attributes of a modern identity in a world engulfed by chaos due to religious, nationalist, and imperialist aggression – ideologies which Joyce would later dub “the wisdom of the old world.” Indeed, the idea of belonging to multiple “nations” simultaneously or, concentric nationalities, manifests nowhere better than in the character of Leopold Bloom, Joyce’s wandering, womanly, non-Jewish Jew.

While Joyce was among the hopeful integrationists of the era, his attitude is somewhat coloured by an underlying suspicion that fear and hatred are more enduring in humans than acceptance…hence the situations we face, again and again, over a century later; and whilst the target group or perceived “other” may have changed, the essentialist rhetoric remains the same.

The future has never been more unpredictable, depending on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of human interest or even common sense. Mankind appears divided between those who believe in human omnipotence (Supermen), and those for whom powerlessness has become the principal experience of their lives. It is not sufficient that we merely lament and theorise the problems of our era, but rather imperative that we, as human beings, shape the necessary and humane response.

We look forward to seeing you in Ulysses for All 2024!

Rosa Chacel and James Joyce: A Portrait of a Joycean Artist

Bloomsday Festival 2024

6 June 2024 at 6:30pm at the Instituto Cervantes Dublín

The James Joyce Centre and Instituto Cervantes Dublín was proud to present Rosa Chacel and James Joyce: A Portrait of a Joycean Artist with Mónica Galindo González on 6 June 2024 at 6:30pm. The event was held at Instituto Cervantes Dublín on Lincoln House, 6-16 Lincoln Place, Dublin 2.

This year is the centenary of Spain’s first publication regarding the work of James Joyce, which was a review by Antonio Marichalar about the upcoming Spanish translation of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Even though the translation was officially published in 1926, some writers were fortunate to get an early copy of the novel and explore its contents. One of these writers was Rosa Chacel, who immediately fell in love with Joyce’s novel and started to experiment with his techniques.

Rosa Chacel (1898 – 1994) is a writer part of the “Generation of ’27” and the Sinsombrero thanks to her participation in the intellectual and cultural milieu of the 20th-century Spain. Due to the close relationship between her life and her writings, her literary innovations made her a nonconformist and subversive writer, always concerned about her style and trajectory. One of her main influences was the writings of James Joyce, which made her recognise that her work is part of “el mundo Joyce” (Joyce’s world).

Joycean scholar Mónica Galindo González guided the audience through Rosa Chacel’s work and its Joycean connections. After a reading of texts by both writers, the event was followed by a Q&A section.

Mónica Galindo González is one of the assistants at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin and a language tutor at University College Dublin. During her Erasmus in Birmingham, she decided to explore Dublin. Her first visit to the James Joyce Centre in 2019 was so inspiring that it gave her the idea to research Joycean traits in the work of Spanish writers for her bachelor’s dissertation. Her passion for James Joyce and the work of Rosa Chacel allowed her to continue this project and bring it to University College Dublin, where she recently submitted a research masters dissertation on the same topic. Mónica has also presented papers in three international conferences in Joyce Studies. In June of this year, she will be presenting a paper at the International Joyce Symposium in Glasglow about the symbol of paralysis in Spain and Ireland.

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Secret Space CD Launch and Performance

Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 8:30pm

AnnaLiviaCreative was delighted to present the CD launch and world premiere of Secret Space, a one-hour performance of poetry by American poet Alison Grace Koehler and improvised guitar by Benjamin Dwyer with photographic images by Tony Carragher, on Friday, 7 June 2024 at 8:30pm.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

More Than a Friend: LGBTIQA+ and Joyce

Bloomsday Festival 2024

1 June 2024 at 2pm

‘Circe’ from Ulysses Murals (1996) by Paul Joyce

James Joyce’s work is a product of an era where reflections about gender and sexuality started to reach the general population. Moreover, the fact that Joyce spent most of his life in continental Europe allowed him to live in places where those manifestations were more noticeable than in Ireland. The combination of these circumstances makes Joyce’s work sparkle with a few characters who can be considered part of the queer spectrum.

The James Joyce Centre was proud to offer an alternative exploration of his work via a tour of the museum on Saturday, 1 June 2024 at 2pm. In this one-hour tour, we explored 35 North Great George’s Street as we read passages from Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses under these new lenses.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The Dubliners Dilemma

Bloomsday Festival 2024

7 June 2024 at 7pm

On June 7th at 7pm we hosted a “truly mesmerizing performance” (Metro Herald, Dublin) of The Dubliners Dilemma by Declan Gorman.

The Dubliners Dilemma was premiered in Ireland in 2012 and has toured to Norway, USA, India, Russia (pre-Ukraine invasion) and all over Ireland. The play finds London publisher Grant Richards re-reading the manuscript of Dubliners in 1914, eight full years after he initially rejected it on the grounds it might breach strict obscenity laws. Joyce’s Dublin comes to wild life around him, a city of innocence and perversion: of sexual predators, gigolos, gamblers and drinkers mingling among street children, housemaids and exquisite concert singers. Entranced again by the literary gifts of the truculent Irish author who refused to change a single word, Richards must decide whether to take the risk second time around, and be the one finally to bring the genius of Joyce to the world.

Written and performed by Declan Gorman. Directed by Gerard Lee.

Declan Gorman is a highly regarded writer, director and performer. His previous Joyce performances The Dubliners Dilemma (2012) and Falling Through the Universe (2022) have toured widely in Ireland and overseas. In the week of Bloomsday, Declan will travel on to Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario with a selection of his Joyce works.

“Gorman holds the audience enraptured throughout with a truly mesmerising performance. This original adaptation is by no means exclusively for die-hard Joyce fans, making a brilliant introduction for newcomers!” Metro Herald, Dublin

“Gorman is a compelling performer, at his best when undertaking childhood roles and in his element with Joyce’s obsequious characters … an animated and intelligent performance.” Irish Theatre Magazine

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Welcome O Joyce

Bloomsday Festival 2024

5 June 2024 at 8:15pm

On June 5th at 8:15pm, the James Joyce Centre hosted a performance of Welcome O Joyce, a play specially commissioned for the James Joyce Association of Ottawa and the James Joyce Centre. It is a montage of pieces from the four great prose works of Joyce, commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the first appearance in print of an extract of what would eventually become Finnegans Wake (1939). The 1924 ‘Mamalujo’ fragment is woven into an entertaining short presentation that includes a comic prologue and vivid scenes from Ulysses (1922), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Dubliners (1914).

Performed by Declan Gorman. Written by Declan Gorman and Des Gunning.

Declan Gorman is a highly regarded writer, director and performer. His previous Joyce performances The Dubliners Dilemma (2012) and Falling Through the Universe (2022) have toured widely in Ireland and overseas. In the week of Bloomsday, Declan will travel on to Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario with a selection of his Joyce works.

“Gorman holds the audience enraptured throughout with a truly mesmerising performance. This original adaptation is by no means exclusively for die-hard Joyce fans, making a brilliant introduction for newcomers!” – Metro Herald, Dublin

“Gorman’s charming play dramatises clearly how Joyce’s writing has embedded itself deeply in Irish culture. His subtle performance reminds us clearly what a masterwork this story is.” – Irish Independent

The Bloomsday Festival is organised by the James Joyce Centre in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Closure Dates: 24th & 25th May 2024

The James Joyce Centre will be closed to visitors on the 24th and 25th of May 2024. This is being done to facilitate the installation of an exciting new exhibition, Gutter Words, by artist Jo Hamill.

The walking tours, Introducing Joyce’s Dublin and Footsteops of Leopold Bloom, will not be effected by this closure and will proceed at the usual time.

More Than a Friend: LGBTIQA+ and Joyce

Tour

27 April 2024 at 2pm

‘Circe’ from Ulysses Murals (1996) by Paul Joyce

The James Joyce Centre was proud to offer an alternative exploration of his work via a tour of the museum on Saturday, 27 April 2024 at 2pm. In this one-hour tour, assistant Monica Gónzalez Galindo explored 35 North Great George’s Street as we read passages from Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Ulysses under LGBTIQA+ lenses.

James Joyce’s work is a product of an era where reflections about gender and sexuality started to reach the general population. Moreover, the fact that Joyce spent most of his life in continental Europe allowed him to live in places where those manifestations were more noticeable than in Ireland. The combination of these circumstances makes Joyce’s work sparkle with a few characters who can be considered part of the queer spectrum.

I Must Listen to the Birds

Reading

26 April 2024 at 6:30pm

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host the award-winning Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul on Friday, April 26th at 6.30pm. The reception was presented in association with Poetry Ireland and supported by Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann. The intimate evening with Makhoul and his translator Raphael Cohen featured poetry readings in both Arabic and Irish and performances of traditional Irish music by Mairead O’Donnell.

“I’m a voice that tells people about our identity, and how we have worked to preserve it as Palestinian, Arab, and in connection with our people,” says Makhoul of his work. Born to a Palestinian father and Lebanese mother, Makhoul grew up in Beqeia surrounded by a mountainous landscape that is omnipresent in his poetry. A Palestinian living within the state of Israel, his poetry deals with the marginalization of its Arab citizens, and with questions of personal and national identity.

He believes there are “no strict forms of prose and poetry anymore,” and his work draws on both esoteric forms and colloquial Arabic. His readings are dynamic and incantatory, and he often delivers his poems with accompaniment from singers and musicians. Makhoul’s poetry collections include Land of the Sad PassifloraWhere Is My Mom, and A Letter from the Last Man.

During the 2023 Gaza war, lines from one of his poems were adopted as a slogan by tens of millions of protestors and written on the walls of cities around the world: “in order for me to write poetry that isn’t / political, I must listen to the birds / and in order to hear the birds / the warplanes must be silent.”

Makhoul and his translator were hosted in Ireland by Donegal poet and editor Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Of the visit, Ni Churreáin says, “I’m delighted that Marwan Makhoul’s work is being translated into the Irish language for the first time. In addition to celebrating Marwan’s poetry, a key focus of this trip is the celebration of poetry across borders and cultures, and the act of bearing witness in poetry to social injustice. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch le gach duine atá páirteach sa chlár seo. Tá muid níos láidre le chéile!”

Street Poetry

Walking Tour

25 April 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre and Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann hosted a lunchtime ‘poetry promenade’ on Thursday, 25 April 2024 for Poetry Day Ireland 2024. We celebrate the extraordinary creativity of the poets who lived, worked and studied in the Georgian Streets of Dublin’s North Inner. Starting at the James Joyce Centre, our guide Darina Gallagher along with Sam Ford, Sinead Murphy, David Nash, and Enda Wyley performed a selection of poetry at different stops along the short route. We heard the poets of North Great George’s Street such as Samuel Ferguson, and Olivia Owenson, Belvedere College students such as James Joyce, Donagh McDonagh, and Austin Clarke, and the new poetry of contemporary poets at the Poetry Ireland House on Parnell Square.

Finnegans Wake, Ulster and Partition

Lecture

23 April 2024 at 6:30pm

‘Lambeg Drums and Pipes on the Way to the Field on the Glorious 12th of July, Ballymena 1910’ by Robert D. Beattie

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host a presentation about James Joyce’s interrogation of Ulster and partition in Finnegans Wake by Dr. Donal Manning on Tuesday, 23 April 2024 at 6:30pm.

Although Joyce is mostly associated with Dublin, there is a wealth of references to Ulster in his work, particularly in Finnegans Wake: its topography, its myth and legend, and its history. Joyce’s portrayal of Ulster is a characteristically complex amalgam of difference and inclusion. Joyce began to write the Wake, provisionally called Work in Progress, in 1923 and he published the novel in 1939. He was, therefore, ideally placed to interrogate partition and the growing pains of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. His portrait is tinged with disappointment and regret. A century after partition, and in the aftermath of Brexit, borders are again physical and symbolic markers of difference and exclusion. Joyce’s critique of intolerance and separatism is as pertinent today as when he embarked on Finnegans Wake a hundred years ago.

Dr. Donal Manning completed his PhD at Liverpool University. His thesis was on Ulster and unionism in Finnegans Wake. He has presented peer-reviewed papers on Finnegans Wake at conferences of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures at University of Cork (2018), University of Nijmegen, Netherlands (2018), and Trinity College Dublin (2019) and delivered three courses on Joyce’s fiction (two of which covered Finnegans Wake) at the Continuing Education Department, Liverpool University. His book Finnegans Wake, Ulster and Partition: The Sanguine Boundary Limit was published last year by Cork University Press. It can be purchased via this link: https://www.corkuniversitypress.com/9781782055877/finnegans-wake-ulster-and-partition/

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

When I Think About the Prankquean

Lecture

19 April 2024 at 7:30pm

The James Joyce Centre hosted a special lecture and reading by famed Joycean Dr. James Keeley on Friday, 19 April 2024 at 7:30pm.

James presented his experiences of reading and studying Finnegans Wake over the years. In particular, he paid close attention to the enigmatic character of the “Prankquean.” He is a pioneer in reading the works of James Joyce on Skype and a long-standing contributor to the Sweny Pharmacy’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake Reading Groups. For five years, he was the moderator of the Transatlantic James Joyce Reading Group, including the Finnegans Wake Sunday School, involving readers from New York to Dublin. He is a co-founder of the Joyceborough Finnegans Wake Reading Group.

Jim was conferred with a PhD in English and Comparative Literature by Columbia University in 2002. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.