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Tag: Reading

Bloomsday Readings and Songs

Written by Conor on . Posted in News.

Bloomsday Festival 2024

16 June 2024 at 3pm

It’s time to don that boater hat and join us for an afternoon of readings and songs from Ulysses as part of the Bloomsday Festival’s flagship event Readings and Songs at Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, 3pm – 6pm on 16 June 2024.

A long-standing and treasured tradition, this afternoon of songs, readings and performances from Ulysses in the heart of the city is an essential part of the Bloomsday experience.

This year, we have actor and writer Tara Flynn at the helm in Temple Bar, to introduce a fabulously chaotic cast of noted Irish actors, musicians, pundits and everyone in between, who will read extracts from Ulysses. The readings will bring to life Joyce’s immortal words, from his description of Dublin’s “snotgreen sea”, to Molly Bloom’s famous “yes”.

This year’s esteemed readers are acclaimed actors Nora-Jane Noone, Gerry O’Brien,  Eimear Keating, Geraldine McAlinden, Rachel Wren, Margaret McAuliffe, Steve Hartland, David Mulcahy, Sinead Murphy, and Mary Murray and writers Conner Habib and Dermot Bolger. The event will also feature the celebrated singer-songwriter David Keenan and the comedic brilliance of  Katherine Lynch and Goblins, Goblins, Goblins.

Musicians Bryan Mullen, Brian Gilligan and Camille O’Sullivan will grace the stage, bringing the music that inspired Joyce back to life. The celebrations will culminate with a reading by beloved Irish author Marian Keyes, as she breathes life into Molly Bloom’s legendary “Yes.”

*This is an outdoor event (the Meeting House Square Umbrellas are currently undergoing maintenance) so rain or shine please dress for the weather.

The running order is as follows:
1. Telemachus— Eimear Keating
2. Nestor— Dermot Bolger
3.Proteus— David Keenan
4. Calypso— Katherine Lynch
5. Lotus Eaters — Camille O’Sullivan
6. Hades— Conner Habib
7. Aelous — Margaret Mc Auliffe
8. Lestrygonians— Geraldine McAlinden
9. Scylla and Charybdis — David Mulcahy
10. Wandering Rocks— Brian Gilligan
11.  Sirens— Mary Murray
12. Cyclops— Gerry O’Brien
13. Nausicaa— Steve Hartland
14. Oxen of the Sun— Sinead Murphy
15. Circe— Goblins, Goblins, Goblins
16. Eumaeus— Rachel Wren
17. Ithaca—  Nora-Jane Noone
18. Penelope— Marian Keyes

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.

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

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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.

I Must Listen to the Birds

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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 Passiflora, Where 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!”

Madeira: The Secrets of Sisters

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Reading

17 April 2024 at 1pm

The James Joyce Centre in association with the Five Lamps Arts Festival was proud to host a reading of Madeira: The Secrets of Sisters by Michael J. Harnett on Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 1pm.

Two sets of sisters meet in a Dublin cafe for a casual chat. Suddenly, disturbing news emerged which shatters the atmosphere challenging their lives thereafter. By turns searing and sensitive the women at the heart of the drama display what it is to have courage and fortitude. Starring Geraldine Plunkett, Brenda Brooks and Deirdre Monaghan.

Over the past five years, Dublin Touring Theatre has written, produced and staged The Noble Call, The CloudSpotter and Bullied in local theatres (Sean O’Casey, Clasac, Viking, Bewleys Cafe Theatre), care homes, community centres, schools, and theatres abroad.

The reading was part of the Five Lamps Arts Festival. The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Anna Livia Plurabelle

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Reading

8 March 2024 at 11am

‘Anna Livia Plurabelle’ by Carol Wade (https://artofthewake.com/)

In honour of International Women’s Day, the James Joyce Centre hosted a public reading of the ‘Anna Livia Plurabelle’ chapter from Finnegans Wake in the Maginni Room. This extraordinary episode brings out all the wit and passion of one of the finest passages of feminine writing in modern literature.

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

The Last Dance of Lizzie Moore

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Reading

21 November 2023 at 7pm

The James Joyce Centre was delighted to host a rehearsed reading and post-performance discussion of The Last Dance of Lizzie Moore, a new play by Daniel Seery, performed by Hidden Skirts Theatre Company on Tuesday, November 21st at 7pm.

A traffic accident on Fleet Street leaves two colleagues who have differing accounts of their time with the victim — and the secrets kept in the battered case she won’t let out of her sight.

The reading was 45 minutes long followed by a Q&A.

Hidden Skirts are a Dublin-based theatre company, that makes theatre inspired by the city and its people. Ciara and Anto have worked together since 2020 when they met on the documentary O’Casey in the Estate. Since then they have been writing and performing original pieces of work including their new play The Last Dance of Lizzie Moore by Daniel Seery. 

Daniel Seery’s short stories have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies and he was a winner in the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair Competition. He lives in Dublin with his wife and two daughters. His first book was called A Model Partner. 

The James Joyce Centre is delighted to support new Irish writers, playwrights, and artists. The James Joyce Centre is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.