|
Britain prepares to honour Ireland’s Joyce
 PREPARATIONS
are again under way to celebrate the anniversary of Bloomsday, with thousands
of followers worldwide expected to pay tribute to Irish author James Joyce.
Joyce’s most famous novel Ulysses, which recounts the hour-by-hour
events of one day in Dublin on June 16, 1904 when Dubliner Leopold Bloom
winds his way through the city, is central to the festival’s theme.
And more than 100 years later Bloom’s adventure is commemorated
with a range of cultural activities including readings and dramatisations,
pub crawls and general merriment.
In Britain, Northampton’s Irish Community Arts Project will celebrate
the event with a reading by literary figures at the graveside of Lucia
Anna Joyce — Joyce’s daughter who died in the town 1982.
The event will take place at 3pm on Saturday, June 16 at Kingsthorpe Cemetery.
In London a dramatised reading will take place on the same day in The
Cross Kings pub near Kings Cross where actors Nora Connolly, Oengus McNamara
and Teresa Jennings are set to perform.
There will also be music and an open mic session from 7.30pm to 10pm where
enthusiasts can join in.
The life of James Joyce is also set to be celebrated in a musical production
in London’s West End.
Himself And Nora tells the story of how Nora Barnacle, a young chambermaid
from Galway, inspired Joyce as his ‘portable Ireland’ throughout
all their tumultuous travels.
The show has been offered a three-month run and highlights will be staged
in Dublin as part of this year’s celebrations.
Other Irish celebrations marking Bloomsday include a week-long series
of events at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin’s North Great George’s
Street from June 10-17 with film screenings, talks and guided walking
tours of the capital.
|
