Ireland on Stage and Screen 2026
Led by Dr. Caroline Elbay
7 January – 11 February 2026
This six-week course investigates and challenges iconic representations of modern Ireland on both stage and screen. As a nation and a people oft represented as permanently oscillating between the poles of ‘Paddy Sad/Paddy Mad’ (Lady Morgan) in both musical and theatrical representation, this course invites participants to engage, experience, analyse, and discuss the multifaceted themes and issues (including, but not limited to, identity, language, war/conflict, the revolutionary period, sexuality, religion, the supernatural, friendship, family, music, and marginalisation) addressed by authors, directors, playwrights and screenwriters ranging from Brian Friel, Sean O’Casey, John B. Keane, and Marina Carr.
In addition to a wide variety of theatre masterworks, the course will also include and consider representations of Ireland and the Irish contained in Martin McDonagh’s award-winning film The Banshees of Inisherin, together with Enda Walsh’s masterful adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These. Guest speaker(s) from the world of Irish film/theatre will provide practical insights into the art and craft of drama and film.
Course Details:
-Location: Online & The James Joyce Centre (35 North Great George’s Street)
-Dates: 24 September – 29 October 2025
-Time: Every Wednesday, 6-8pm Irish Standard Time
-Registration: €100
Each session will be livestreamed on Zoom, then recorded and available for viewing on Moodle until 31 December 2025. Recordings are done with the consent of the attendee in accordance with GDRP. If you do not wish to be recorded, you may still enjoy the class but your video and microphone will be disabled. Please email [email protected] for more information.
Click this link to find out more about the course.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman
5 November — 10 December 2025
Join us at the James Joyce Centre where Dr. Josh Q. Newman will lead a six-week course on James Joyce’s groundbreaking first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Published in 1916, A Portrait covers many areas: a coming-of-age story (bildungsroman), a snapshot of Ireland at the turn of the 20th century, an examination of religious, historical, and national forces on the individual, a penetrating insight into the human psyche, a foundational work of Modernism, a fictional treatise on aesthetics and youth — among others. It is at once personal and universal, touching and shocking, beautiful and revolting.
This course will go through the novel in detail. Starting on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, we will examine the laboured production of the novel as well as its historical and literary influences and other supplementary material. The course will consist of readings, group discussions, presentations, and guest lectures.
You do not have to be an academic or so familiar with Joyce’s work to enjoy the class!
Course Details:
-Location: Zoom & The James Joyce Centre (35 North Great George’s Street)
-Dates: 5 November – 10 December 2025
-Time: Every Wednesday, 6-8pm Irish Standard Time
-Registration: €100
Each session will be livestreamed on Zoom, recorded and made available for view on Moodle. Recordings are done with the consent of the attendee in accordance with GDRP. If you do not wish to be recorded, you may still enjoy the class but your video and microphone will be disabled. Please email [email protected] for more information.
Click this link to find out more about this course.
Ulysses For All 2025
Led by Dr. Caroline Elbay
5 February — 5 June 2025
“What is your nation if I may ask? says the citizen. Ireland, says Bloom. I as born here. Ireland… But it’s no use, says he. Force, hatred, history, all that. That’s not life for men and women, insult and hatred. And everybody knows that it’s the very opposite of that that is really life.” (U12: 1430-83)
Ulysses for All (2025) focused on the idea of IMAGINING SELF: IMAGINING NATION. This annual set of lectures guided readers through each chapter of Ulysses, making a complicated text accessible and enjoyable for all!
Click this link to find out more about the course.
Cities in Literature and Music 2024
Led by Dr. Caroline Elbay
13 November – 18 December 2024
Join us at the James Joyce Centre where our lifelong learning founder, Dr. Caroline Elbay, presents Cities in Literature and Music.
This six-week course of literary exploration, music and shared talks examines the varied roles that major cities of Dublin, Trieste, London, Paris, Cordoba, and Prague have played in both literary and musical works of different eras and genres.
Together with exploring the concept of ‘The City’ through commentators such as Italo Calvino (Invisible Cities) and Jonathan Raban (Soft City), this course will take readers to Dublin with James Joyce’s bildungsroman, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. A taste of Victorian decadence is guaranteed as readers explore the labyrinthine city of Victorian London through Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray before proceeding to Paris with Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. A journey to warmer and more sultry climes will transport readers to Cordoba and Prosper Merimee’s novella Carmen. Finally, our winterreise (winter journey) will terminate in the beautiful ‘city of spires’: Franz Kafka’s Prague with The Metamorphosis and Utz by Bruce Chatwin.
Click this link to find out more about the course.
Dear, Dirty Dubliners 2024
Led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman
2 October — 6 November 2024
Dubliners, James Joyce’s debut collection of short stories, is considered one of the finest short story collections ever written, laying bare the intrigues, dirtiness, and indignities of life in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. Joyce, by his own admission, got at the “heart” of Dublin with penetrating insights into its denizens, using innovative styles and techniques that would come to define the Modernist movement and beyond.
Dear, Dirty Dubliners is a unique, six-week course led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman that will guide you through the stories in great detail. The course will be led both in the James Joyce Centre and on Zoom. Particular focus will be paid to issues of gender, poverty, colonialism, nationalism, globalization, the Catholic Church, and sexuality, just to name a few. The course will also go over its troubled publication history as well as its enduring legacy and adaptations, such as John Huston’s 1987 film The Dead.
Click this link to find out more about the course.
Ulysses for All 2024
“What is a Nation?” Ulysses and the World Today
Led by Dr. Caroline Elbay
31 January — 5 June 2024
Join our global readership and guest speakers for a hybrid online/in-person odyssey atthe James Joyce Centre, Ulysses for All 2024. Dr. Caroline Elbay will lead the course on Joyce’s great Dublin epic. In an attempt to consider the current world situation and attendant issues, the course 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.
Click this link to find out more about the course.
Dear, Dirty Dubliners 2023
Led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman
8 November — 13 December 2023
Dubliners, James Joyce’s debut collection of short stories, is considered one of the finest short story collections ever written, laying bare the intrigues, dirtiness, and indignities of life in Dublin at the turn of the 20th century. Joyce, by his own admission, got at the “heart” of Dublin with penetrating insights into its denizens, using innovative styles and techniques that would come to define the Modernist movement and beyond.
Dear, Dirty Dubliners is a unique, six-week course led by Dr. Josh Q. Newman that will guide you through the stories in great detail. The course will be led both in the James Joyce Centre and on Zoom. Particular focus will be paid to issues of gender, poverty, colonialism, nationalism, globalization, the Catholic Church, and sexuality, just to name a few. The course will also go over its troubled publication history as well as its enduring legacy and adaptations, such as John Huston’s 1987 film The Dead.
Ulysses for All 2023
Ulysses 101: Past, Present, & Future
Led by Dr. Caroline Elbay
1 February — 7 June 2023
Join our global readership and guest speakers for an online odyssey from the James Joyce Centre, Ulysses for All 2023. Dr. Caroline Elbay will lead the course on Joyce’s great Dublin epic. A carnival of language (and linguistic styles) and a celebration of existence, Ulysses deals with (but is not limited to) sex, alcohol, adultery, identity (in all its forms), life, death, religion, and guilt.
I first read Ulysses a year ago, so this was my
second time through the book. With the help
of the class and a second reading, I got
a lot more out of this wonderful work.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
JAMJOY – Activity Book
Probably the most accessible book about James Joyce ever written, JAMJOY is an activity book designed for primary school children. Filled with games, puzzles, and maps, JAMJOY is a novel and fun way of introducing young children to Joyce and his world.
Download it for free below.
Do Fish Ever Get Seasick? – Ulysses for Kids
You’re never too young to be introduced to one of the greatest books ever written – and that’s exactly what the James Joyce Centre will do with Ulysses for Kids! Through performance, song and storytelling, they bring to life the child characters in Joyce’s Ulysses and explain the elements at the heart of the book – the importance of curiosity and learning, to respect others, the trickiness of family relationships and love and why everyone needs a place to call home. The performance lasts approximately 45 minutes.
In September 2021, we welcomed 6th Class from the Central Model Senior School, to the James Joyce Centre. They were given a short introduction to the writer James Joyce followed by a performance of ‘Do Fish Ever Get Seasick’. The students got to asks questions about the show and everyone got a copy of JAMJOY, the James Joyce activity book.
‘The students really enjoyed their visit! Many thanks!’ Deirdre Gartland, Principal, Central Model Senior School
Please email [email protected] for more information.
Thank you very much for an amazing
transition year experience. I learned so much
about James Joyce, Dublin and much more
SECONDARY SCHOOL
Walk ‘n’ Talk (Introduction to Joyce)
A 1-hour workshop made up of a 30-minute interactive presentation on Joyce and his works, followed by a 30-minute walking tour of Dublin city, showcasing the locations from Joyce’s life and works. This workshop is perfect for introducing students to Joyce’s work and his impact on world literature, and for developing students’ existing knowledge of Joyce and Joyce’s Dublin.
Please email [email protected] for more information.
Student Workshop
A 1-hour interactive bespoke workshop devoted to reading, discussing, and analysing selected samples from Joyce’s work, including one or two short stories from Dubliners or a sample section from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Please note that student group leaders are asked to notify the Centre which short stories/passages they would like to have read and discussed in advance of the workshop.
Please email [email protected] for more information.
Dame Street in Dublin City Centre