From offal breakfasts in Dublin to ‘Molly and Poldy’ cocktails in Croatia, Ulysses fans are set to make Bloomsday memorable this Tuesday. ‘If it’s so hard to read, then why are so many people having so much fun with it?’ says one participant
James Joyce chose to immortalise his first outing with Nora Barnacle, the woman who would eventually become his wife, in his great novel Ulysses, making 16 June 1904 the date on which his protagonist Leopold Bloom goes about his business in Dublin. Over 100 years later, Joyce enthusiasts around the world choose to celebrate the date in their own way. We talk to fans from Brazil to China about how they’re marking Bloomsday this year.
There are also Bloomsday breakfasts planned, following the intricate description at the beginning of the novel – “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine” – and an after party.
“It’s become part of the cultural fabric of the city,” said Traynor. “Of course we’ll get the core Joyceans, those who are obsessed with Joyce, but Bloomsday is also an excuse for everyone else to get involved. It’s a great point of entry for people – a safe space for people to be proud of Joyce’s work, his legacy, and of the city itself, because obviously the book is a celebration of Dublin.”
Usually, says Dean Parker, he helps stage a musical show in Auckland’s red light district: a three-hour musical cabaret of dramatised episodes from Ulysses. Last year was a “stunning, jam-packed success”, with Lucy Lawless, aka Xena Warrior Princess, reading Molly Bloom’s soliloquy. “By the time of the soliloquy the audience was pretty liquored up as Lawless (who’s from a prominent Auckland Irish family) had whacked a thousand bucks down on the bar for Guinness and shorts. One of the cast reported he’d been outside having a smoke when a punter burst out into the street hollering, ‘They’re giving away the beer in there!’” he says.
This year, they’re sticking to songs and readings in the Thirsty Dog pub, due to “exhaustion and over-commitments elsewhere”. It’s “next to Suzie Wong’s Massage Parlour”, he adds.
Bloomsday in New Zealand … songs and readings in the Thirsty Dog pub
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Dublin, Ireland
Mark Traynor at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin estimates there are around 40 events planned in the city for Bloomsday, from walking tours to public readings led by drag queen Panty Bliss to Stephen Fry in conversation with senator David Norris. “Bloomsday has always been quite visible here, primarily because people dress up in Edwardian garb,” he said. “It definitely makes an impact on the city and it draws people in.”There are also Bloomsday breakfasts planned, following the intricate description at the beginning of the novel – “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine” – and an after party.
“It’s become part of the cultural fabric of the city,” said Traynor. “Of course we’ll get the core Joyceans, those who are obsessed with Joyce, but Bloomsday is also an excuse for everyone else to get involved. It’s a great point of entry for people – a safe space for people to be proud of Joyce’s work, his legacy, and of the city itself, because obviously the book is a celebration of Dublin.”
Auckland, New Zealand
Usually, says Dean Parker, he helps stage a musical show in Auckland’s red light district: a three-hour musical cabaret of dramatised episodes from Ulysses. Last year was a “stunning, jam-packed success”, with Lucy Lawless, aka Xena Warrior Princess, reading Molly Bloom’s soliloquy. “By the time of the soliloquy the audience was pretty liquored up as Lawless (who’s from a prominent Auckland Irish family) had whacked a thousand bucks down on the bar for Guinness and shorts. One of the cast reported he’d been outside having a smoke when a punter burst out into the street hollering, ‘They’re giving away the beer in there!’” he says.This year, they’re sticking to songs and readings in the Thirsty Dog pub, due to “exhaustion and over-commitments elsewhere”. It’s “next to Suzie Wong’s Massage Parlour”, he adds.
Bloomsday in New Zealand … songs and readings in the Thirsty Dog pub
More
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