Literature
June 2015Bloomsday
A secular holiday in Ireland, Bloomsday is the anniversary of the day James Joyce went on his first date with his future wife Nora Barnacle, and is named after Leopold Bloom, the main character in Joyce's most famous novel, Ulysses.
Events in Dublin (there are other Bloomsday festivities in the States and in Hungary) begin a week ahead of Bloomsday itself. Celebrating both Joyce's life and the novel itself, the action of which takes place over one day in Dublin in 1904, they include readings and dramatisations, pub crawls, street parties, and 'Bloomsday Breakfasts', with much activity centred around the James Joyce Centre in North Great George's Street. Some participants even dress in Edwardian costume.
Go to Dublin and participate in a unique literary memorial. Join the large crowds of people drinking burgundy and eating Gorgonzola sandwiches in Dave Byrne's pub off Grafton Street. Visit the Joyce Tower in Sandycove, where Ulysses opens, for readings and commemorations. Take part in one of the many guided Bloomsday walks that encompass the best of Joyce's Dublin or eat the Bloomsday tea at the James Joyce Centre.
