UB James Joyce Collection Virtual Bloomsday Celebration

by DENISE WOLFE

Please join the University at Buffalo, steward of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of James Joyce materials, to commemorate and celebrate the life of James Joyce, considered to be the most influential writer of the 20th century.

Since its inception, Bloomsday has been celebrated across the globe in many ways, including walking tours in Dublin that retrace Bloom’s wanderings, reading excerpts from the book, period-costume pub crawls and theatrical performances. This year, amid the social distancing restrictions of COVID-19, Bloomsday celebrations will primarily take place virtually, and UB is leading the fun on:

June 16, 2020 | 3 – 4:30 p.m. EDT

Our distinctive event—held virtually via GoToWebinar—centers around honored guests and Joyceans reading selected excerpts from “Ulysses,” including:

• Edna O’ Brien, Irish playwright, poet and novelist, and honorary Dame of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
• Anne Fogarty, Director, James Joyce Research Centre, University College Dublin
• Brigid Hughes, Founding Editor, A Public Space
• Margaret Kelleher, Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama, University College Dublin
• Gillian McCain, poet and author
• Katherine McSharry, Deputy Director, National Library of Ireland
• Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s 18th Ambassador to the U.S.
• Senator David Norris, Joyce scholar and member of the Irish Senate
• Simon O’Connor, Director, Museum of Literature Ireland
• Vincent O’Neill, Artistic Director, Buffalo’s Irish Classical Theatre Company
• Molly Peacock, poet and essayist
• Michael Silverblatt, host of Bookworm on KCRW
• Colm Tóibín, Irish novelist, playwright and poet, and author of “Brooklyn”

The virtual event will be co-hosted on the GoToWebinar platform by Jim Maynard, PhD, and Alison Fraser, PhD, curator and assistant curator of the UB Poetry Collection, respectively, and Mike Groden, PhD, leading scholar of “Ulysses” manuscripts.