Ah, Ulysses. Beloved by some – and baffling to millions more – February marked the centenary of the novel’s publication by Parisian bookshop Shakespeare and Company. 2022 looks to be the year of Ulysses, as an international programme of music, film, readings and talks has begun to celebrate the birthday of the literary behemoth. It’s hard to overstate the cultural impact Ulysses has had both on Ireland and the wider world – the novel was described by T.S. Eliot in 1923 as “the most important expression that the present age has found” – but the novel did not have an easy path to greatness. A chequered publication history and a polarised audience reception would greatly hinder Ulysses’ initial impact, but both the text and its author weathered the storm, and both would become literary legends in the aftermath. Although the celebratory programme is international, Dublin, of course, is looking after its own, and there is a fantastic range of cultural events being put on all over the city. This guide includes a wide range of events, tours, talks, and so on, so you can celebrate Ulysses with the pomp and circumstance it deserves.
Ulysses 2.2
To mark the novel’s centenary, three of Ireland’s most innovative and exciting arts organisations and practitioners have combined forces to present Ulysses 2.2, “a year long, nationwide odyssey of creative responses” to the 18 episodes chronicling the events on June 14th, 1904 in the life of Leopold Bloom. “Episode I: the wandering” ran from February the 15–27th. The first episode, curated by Anne Enright, is extraordinary – the exhibit admits one person at a time, and uses eye-tracking software and responsive soundscape to show your individual version of reading Ulysses. This episode emphasises how every reading of the text is unique, and the way in which Joyce, in groundbreaking fashion, experiments with the ways in which our brains fill in the blanks. Information about the next episodes can be found at the Ulysses 2.2 website.
Ulysses Journey
Running until June 28th, Ulysses Journey is a collaboration between the Centre Culturel Irlandais and the Contemporary Music Centre (CMC). The centenary of the publication of Ulysses will be celebrated by the screening of six specially commissioned films in Dublin, Paris and Budapest. All six works were created by Irish composers, and are inspired by, reflect on, and respond to Ulysses, and have been set to films made by Irish filmmakers. In addition to the film programme, there will be an international concert series of new and existing works given by Irish and Hungarian composers. Given Bloom’s Hungarian origins, this partnership between the two nations is a fantastic way to pay respects to Ulysses as a hugely international text, a facet which is sometimes lost in the text’s popular mythos. More information about tickets and times will be available on the CMC’s website between February and June.
Readings at Sweny’s Pharmacy
Sweny’s Pharmacy is a James Joyce Heritage Centre in the heart of the city, and one of the most immersive and interesting Joyce exhibits in Dublin. Only a stone’s throw from Trinity College, Sweny’s, in its former existence as a pharmacy, appears in the “Lotus Eaters” episode of Ulysses, in which Bloom strolls in to buy lemon soap before contemplating a trip to the baths. Staffed entirely by volunteers, Sweny’s holds Joyce reading groups twice a day in a variety of different languages, from French to Russian to Greek. It’s also a great shop to check out Ulysses and Joyce memorabilia, and has its own Joyce publication.
English readings of Ulysses take place at 7pm on Thursdays, and more information can be found on the Sweny’s website.
’United States vs One Book Called Ulysses’ at the James Joyce Centre
This event, held by the James Joyce Centre, is an online theatrical production of one of the greatest literary trials of the twentieth century. It saw the publishers of the text Random House pitted against the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, which viewed Ulysses as both scandalous and obscene. The James Joyce Centre commissioned writer Colin Murphy and AboutFace Theatre to create a funny and spirited retelling of the 1933 Woolsey judgement. The centre is also home to one of Dublin’s permanent Joyce exhibits “James Joyce and Ulysses”, which spotlights the relationship between author and work, and features many artefacts from Joyce’s life.
Running for one night only on March 19th at 8pm. More information on tickets for this play and the JJC’s revolving celebratory programme of Ulysses can be found on their website.
James Joyce Symposium
Coming later in the year, Trinity and University College Dublin (UCD) are hosting the James Joyce Symposium for Ulysses’ centenary. On the occasion of Ulysses‘ landmark birthday, Trinity and UCD will hold the 28th international Joyce Symposium, inviting “Joyceans to return once again to the city he so durably and resoundingly situated on the literary map.” The invited writers for this event are Eimear McBride and Mark O’Connell, and the keynote academic speakers are Katherine O’Callaghan and Anne Marie D’Arcy.
Registration for the symposium is now open: at a concession price, student tickets will cost €100 euro until April 16th.
From April 17th, concession price tickets will cost €125 euro. More information on the process of registration and the keynote speakers is available through the School of English’s website.
The controversial text has shaped the course of literature in Dublin, and the city’s celebrations are a testament to the power of Joyce’s words. From the two new stamps An Post has unveiled, to Nuala O’Connor’s new novel Nora which reimagines the fascinating love story of Nora Barnacle and Joyce, the centenary celebrations are happening in all shapes and sizes. So, if you haven’t read the text, now might be the time to peruse a Sparknotes summary, as the word Ulysses is not going to be leaving the Dublin arts and culture sector any time soon.
