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Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
, observed annually in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
and elsewhere on
16 June Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships. During the withdrawal, Roman forces suffer several attacks from the Persians. * 632 – Yazdegerd III ascends the throne as ki ...
, the day his 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' takes place in 1904, the date of his first sexual encounter with his wife-to-be,
Nora Barnacle Nora Barnacle (21 March 1884 – 10 April 1951) was the muse and wife of Irish author James Joyce. Barnacle and Joyce had their first romantic assignation in 1904 on a date celebrated worldwide as the "Bloomsday" of his modernist novel ...
, and named after its protagonist
Leopold Bloom Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/ Odysseus in Homer's ep ...
.


Name

The English
compound word In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...
''Bloomsday'' is usually used in Irish as well, though some publications call it Lá Bloom.


First celebration

The first mention of such a celebration is to be found in a letter by Joyce to Miss Weaver of 27 June 1924, which refers to "a group of people who observe what they call Bloom's day – 16 June". On the 50th anniversary of the events in the novel, in 1954, John Ryan (artist, critic, publican and founder of ''
Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Br ...
'' magazine) and the novelist
Brian O'Nolan Brian O'Nolan ( ga, Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966), better known by his pen name Flann O'Brien, was an Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth c ...
organised what was to be a daylong pilgrimage along the ''Ulysses'' route. They were joined by Patrick Kavanagh,
Anthony Cronin Anthony Gerard Richard Cronin (28 December 1923 – 27 December 2016) was an Irish poet, arts activist, biographer, commentator, critic, editor and barrister. Early life and family Cronin was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford on 28 December ...
, Tom Joyce (a dentist who, as Joyce's cousin, represented the family interest) and AJ Leventhal (a lecturer in French at
Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
). Ryan had engaged two horse-drawn cabs, of the old-fashioned kind, in which in ''Ulysses'' Mr. Bloom and his friends drive to Paddy Dignam's funeral. The party were assigned roles from the novel. Cronin stood in for Stephen Dedalus, O’Nolan for his father Simon Dedalus, John Ryan for the journalist Martin Cunningham, and A.J. Leventhal, being Jewish, was recruited to fill (unknownst to him, according to John Ryan) the role of Leopold Bloom. They planned to travel round the city through the day, starting at the
Martello tower Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand u ...
at Sandycove (where the novel begins), visiting in turn the scenes of the novel, ending at night in what had once been the brothel quarter of the city, the area which Joyce had called Nighttown. The pilgrimage was abandoned halfway through, when the weary pilgrims succumbed to inebriation and rancour at the Bailey pub in the city centre, which Ryan then owned, and at which in 1967 he installed the door to No.
7 Eccles Street 7 Eccles Street was a row house in Dublin, Ireland. It was the home of Leopold Bloom, protagonist of the novel '' Ulysses'' (1922) by James Joyce. The house was demolished in 1967, and the site is now occupied by the Mater Private Hospital. His ...
(Leopold Bloom's front door), having rescued it from demolition. A Bloomsday record of 1954, informally filmed by John Ryan, follows this pilgrimage.


Activities


Dublin

The day involves a range of cultural activities, including ''Ulysses'' readings and dramatisations,
pub crawl A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. Background Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates a ...
s and other events, some of it hosted by the
James Joyce Centre The James Joyce Centre is a museum and cultural centre in Dublin, Ireland, dedicated to promoting an understanding of the life and works of James Joyce. It opened to the public in June 1996. The centre is situated in a restored 18th-centur ...
in North Great George's Street. Enthusiasts often dress in
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
costume to celebrate Bloomsday, and retrace Bloom's route around Dublin via landmarks such as
Davy Byrne's pub Davy Byrne's pub is a public house located at 21 Duke Street, Dublin. It was made famous by its appearance in Chapter 8 (' Lestrygonians') of James Joyce's 1922 modernist novel '' Ulysses'', set on Thursday 16 June 1904. The main character, ...
. Hard-core devotees have even been known to hold marathon readings of the entire novel, some lasting up to 36 hours. The
James Joyce Tower and Museum The James Joyce Tower and Museum is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904. The opening scenes of his 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' take place here, and the tower is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusi ...
at Sandycove, site of the opening chapter of ''Ulysses'', hosts many free activities around Bloomsday including theatrical performances, musical events, tours of the iconic tower and readings from Joyce's masterpiece. "Every year hundreds of Dubliners dress as characters from the book ... as if to assert their willingness to become one with the text. It is quite impossible to imagine any other masterpiece of modernism having quite such an effect on the life of a city." On Bloomsday 1982, the centenary year of Joyce's birth, Irish state broadcaster
RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...
transmitted a continuous 30-hour dramatic performance of the entire text of ''Ulysses'' on radio. A five-month-long festival, ReJoyce Dublin 2004, took place in Dublin between 1 April and 31 August 2004. On the Sunday before the 100th "anniversary" of the fictional events described in the book, 10,000 people in Dublin were treated to a free, open-air, full Irish breakfast on
O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Hen ...
consisting of
sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
s, rashers, toast,
bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s, and
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
and white puddings. The 2006 Bloomsday festivities were cancelled, the day coinciding with the funeral of
Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...
.


United Kingdom

BBC Radio Four devoted most of its broadcasting on 16 June 2012, to a dramatisation of ''Ulysses'', with additional comments from critic
Mark Lawson Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author. Specialising in culture and the arts, he is best known for presenting the flagship BBC Radio 4 arts programme '' Front Row'' between 1998 and 2014.Padraic Flanaga"Mark Lawson ...
talking to Joyce scholars. In the dramatisation, Molly Bloom was played by Niamh Cusack, Leopold Bloom by
Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, ...
, Stephen Daedalus by Andrew Scott, and the Narrator was
Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as '' V for Vendetta'', '' Michael Collins'', ''Interview with the Vampire'' and '' Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
.


United States

Washington, D.C. – The Georgetown Neighborhood Library, located at 3260 R Street, NW, in Washington, D.C. held a marathon dramatic reading of ''Ulysses'' beginning 9 June and concluding on 16 June 2014 (Bloomsday). Twenty-five writers, actors, and scholars read ''Ulysses'' aloud in its entirety, a project which took more than 33 hours. The reading concluded with opera singer Laura Baxter performing Molly Bloom's soliloquy in its entirety, a feat taking hours by itself.
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
 – The
Rosenbach Museum & Library The Rosenbach is a Philadelphia museum and library located within two 19th-century townhouses. The historic houses contain the collections and treasures of Philip Rosenbach and his younger brother Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach. The brothers owned the ...
is home to Joyce's handwritten
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...
of ''Ulysses''. The museum first celebrated Bloomsday in 1992, with readings by actors and scholars at the
Borders Books Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily ...
in
Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...
. The following June 16th, it began the tradition of closing the 2000-block of Delancey Street for a Bloomsday street festival. In addition to dozens of readers, often including Philadelphia's mayor, singers from the Academy of Vocal Arts perform songs that are integral to the novel's plot. Traditional
Irish cuisine Irish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with the island of Ireland. It has evolved from centuries of social and political change and the mixing of different cultures, predominantly with those from nearby ...
is provided by local Irish-themed pubs. In 2014, the Rosenbach's Bloomsday festival went on the road, with two hours of readings at the main branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, an hour of readings at Rittenhouse Square, and concluded with five hours of readings on the steps of the museum, at 2008–10 Delancey Street.
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
has several events on Bloomsday including formal readings at Symphony Space and informal readings and music at the downtown Ulysses' Folk House pub. The Irish American Bar Association of New York celebrates Joyce's contribution to the First Amendment, with an annual keynote speech named after John Quinn, the Irish-American lawyer who defended Joyce's New York publishers in their obscenity trial in 1922. In 2014, New York celebrated Bloomsday with "Bloomsday on Broadway," which includes famous actors reading excerpts of the books, and commentators explaining the work between segments. The 2016 celebration includes a juried competition for the Best Dressed Molly and Leopold Bloom, selected from among attendees by a blue-ribbon panel including image strategist Margaret Molloy several design figures. Los Angeles, California – Each year Bloomsday is celebrated at the
Hammer Museum The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur ...
with readings, music and libations. Kansas City, Missouri – The
Kansas City Irish Center The Kansas City Irish Center, formerly known as the Irish Center of Kansas City, is a non-profit organization in Kansas City, Missouri. The Center opened in Union Station on March 17, 2007 (Saint Patrick's Day). The Center's mission encourages know ...
currently hosts the Bloomsday celebration, started at the now closed Bloomsday Books in 1995. Usually a day long event, the center hosts readings, a documentary, a play, Irish dancers and a performance by Dublin balladeer Eddie Delahunt. This has been an annual event since its inception.
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...
 – The Syracuse James Joyce Club holds an annual Bloomsday celebration at Johnston's BallyBay Pub, at which large portions of the book are either read aloud, or presented as dramatisations by costumed performers.
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...
 – The Nighttown Restaurant/Jazz Club holds an annual reading of the novel on Bloomsday.
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...
 – Bloomsday is honoured by a presentation on James Joyce (often by Dr. Marguerite Regan) as well as readings from ''Ulysses'' and Irish folk music, sponsored by the Wichita Irish Cultural Association.
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...
 – The Irish American Society of Tidewater, Virginia, held a Bloomsday Happy Hour at Smartmouth Brewery, on Saturday, 14 June 2014. Live Irish music was provided by the band Glasgow Kiss, and IAS members attended dressed in Joycean accessories (fedoras, round glasses, eye patches, etc.).
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
 – Readings from ''Ulysses'' at the Maine Irish Heritage Center, corner of Gray and State Streets.
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
Powell's Books hosts a reading of the novel in its entirety for the duration of the day by authors, volunteers, and other Joyce lovers.
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...
 – long running annual celebration with readings from Ulysses at 7 sites around the city. Organized annually by the Worcester County Poetry Association.
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
– The Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, Booksmart Tulsa, and the Guthrie Green began an annual Bloomsday
Pub Crawl A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of visiting multiple pubs or bars in a single session. Background Many European cities have public pub crawls that serve as social gatherings for local expatriates a ...
in the Brady Arts District of downtown Tulsa in 2014.
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
– the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library sponsor a weekend Annual Bloomin' Beerfest with live Irish music, a costume contest, and live readings.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 1 ...
- Sam Masotto (uncostumed) of Bonn Place Brewery celebrates Bloomsday by reciting sections from “Ulysses” behind the bar while onlookers look and drink and wonder ‘why’ - June 16, 2022.


Australia

In Sydney, Bloomsday is hosted by the John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies
UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
in association with the National Irish Association Sydney and the Consulate General of Ireland, Sydney. Bloomsday in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
has a proud history of engagement with the work of James Joyce. Since 1994, a committee of Joyceansnow known as 'Bloomsday in Melbourne'has read and re-read Joyce and mounted theatrical events designed to communicate the joy of Joyce to its loyal patrons. In 2019 Bloomsday in Melbourne mounted a production of Tom Stoppard's '' Travesties'' at
fortyfivedownstairs fortyfivedownstairs is a not-for-profit theatre and gallery in Melbourne, Australia. Located on the lower floors of a brick nineteenth century building in Flinders Lane, it showcases visual art, independent theatre and live music. An institution ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
. In 2020, Bloomsday in Melbourne created an online series of eighteen short films, corresponding to each of the episodes of ''Ulysses.'' The films featured well-known Australian actor Max Gillies. In 2021, Bloomsday in Melbourne announced that it was to present ''Love's Bitter Mystery: the year that made James Joyce,'' as an 'intense immersive theatrical experience' at Melbourne's Villa Alba in
Kew, Victoria Kew (;) is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Kew recorded a population of 24,499 at the 2021 census. A city ...
. The play, written by Bloomsday in Melbourne's Steve Carey, focuses on a key period in the young James Joyce's life, between his first failed exile in Paris in 1902 and his departure for Europe in September 1904.


New Zealand

Bloomsday commenced in Auckland in the year 2000 with a radio transmission of ''Ulysses'' on Access Radio from midnight to 6am, 16 Junethe first Bloomsday celebration of the new millennium anywhere in the world. A cabaret show with Linn Lorkin and the Jews Brothers Band followed next year, 2001, and there has been a Jews Brothers Bloomsday ever since on 16 June, with Brooklyn musician Hershal Herscher as a Woody Allen Bloom and Dublin actor Brian Keagan reading from ''Ulysses''. Currently this three-hour show is hosted by the Thirsty Dog, on Karangahape Road. Guest Molly Blooms have included New Zealanders
Robyn Malcolm Robyn Jane Malcolm (born 15 March 1965) is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street''. She is best known for six seasons of playing Cheryl West, ma ...
,
Noelle McCarthy Noelle or Noëlle is the feminine form of the gender neutral name Noel. It derives from the old French Noël, "Christmas," a variant (and later a replacement) of nael, which itself derives from the Latin natalis, "birthday". Other nicknames a ...
, Carmel McGlone,
Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...
,
Geraldine Brophy Geraldine Brophy (born 1961) is a New Zealand television, film and stage actress, theatre director and playwright. Biography Brophy was born in Birmingham, England to Irish parents. She and her family emigrated to New Zealand in 1972, when she ...
and
Jennifer Ward-Lealand ' Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand (born 8 November 1962) is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, come ...
.


Canada

A five-day Bloomsday festival has been celebrated in Montreal since 2012 with readings, academic workshops, films, concerts and musical galas, cabarets, walking tours of Irish Montreal, Irish pub events, and guest lectures by internationally known Ulysses experts. Major partners include the Concordia School for Canadian Irish Studies, McGill University Continuing Education, The Jewish Public Library, Westmount and Atwater Libraries.


Italy

There have been many Bloomsday events in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...
, where the first part of ''Ulysses'' was written. The Joyce Museum Trieste, opened on 16 June 2004, collects works by and about James Joyce, including secondary sources, with a special emphasis on his period in Trieste. Since 2005 Bloomsday has been celebrated every year in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, with a reading of ''Ulysses'' in Italian by volunteers (students, actors, teachers, scholars), starting at 0900 and finishing in the early hours of 17 June; the readings take place in 18 different places in the old town centre, one for each chapter of the novel, and these places are selected for their resemblance to the original settings. Thus for example chapter 1 is read in a medieval tower, chapter 2 in a classroom of the Faculty of Languages, chapter 3 in a bookshop on the waterfront, chapter 9 in the University Library, and chapter 12 ("Cyclops") in an old pub. The Genoa Bloomsday is organised by the Faculty of Languages and the International Genoa Poetry Festival.


France

The Paris Bloomsday Group (of Paris-based Irish Joyceans) performs texts and songs from the work of James Joyce in such Parisian venues as the Irish Embassy, the
Centre Culturel Irlandais The Irish College in Paris (french: Collège des Irlandais, links=no, la, Collegium Clericorum Hibernoram) was for three centuries a major Roman Catholic educational establishment for Irish students. It was founded in the late 16th century, and ...
or the
American Library in Paris The American Library in Paris is the largest English-language lending library on the European mainland. It operates as an independent, non-profit cultural association in France incorporated under the laws of Delaware. Library members have access ...
. Performances are in English with brief forays into French, Italian, Latin and Greek.


Czech Republic

Bloomsday has been celebrated annually since 1993 in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. Fans of Ulysses meet just below the Strahov Monastery near a large grove containing what is now a frequently dried pond. A large historical protected oak tree (pamatný strom) is at one end of the grove and an unrelated cement monolith on the opposite. People meet every year at 11:50AM. A volunteer reads a section of Aeolus at the noon hour to the pealing of the Strahov monastery's bells.


Hungary

Bloomsday has also been celebrated since 1994 in the Hungarian town of Szombathely, the fictional birthplace of Leopold Bloom's father, Virág Rudolf, an emigrant
Hungarian Jew The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...
. The event is usually centred on the Iseum – the remnants of an
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
temple there from Roman times – and the Blum-mansion, commemorated to Joyce since 1997, at 40–41 Fő square, which used to be the property of an actual Jewish family called Blum. Hungarian author László Najmányi in his 2007 novel, ''The Mystery of the Blum-mansion'' (A Blum-ház rejtélye) describes the results of his research on the connection between Joyce and the Blum family.


Latvia

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic obstacles
"Bloomsday Latvia" initiative group
organized a limited conference dedicated to the question whether should “Ulysses” be translated once again into Latvian (the first translation and publication of the book was in 1960). This was followed by a promenade through Riga Old Town where passages from "Ulysses" were read along the way which ended at the local Irish pub with further talks and Irish dances.


Global

On Bloomsday 2011, ''@Ulysses'' was the stage for an experimental day-long tweeting of ''Ulysses''. Starting at 0800 (Dublin time) on Thursday 16 June 2011, the aim was to explore what would happen if ''Ulysses'' was recast 140 characters at a time. It was hoped that the event would become the first of a series.


Literary references

In 2004, Vintage Publishers issued ''Yes I said yes I will yes: A Celebration of James Joyce, Ulysses, and 100 Years of Bloomsday''. It is one of the few
monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...
s that details the increasing popularity of Bloomsday. The book's title comes from the novel's famous last lines. In 1956,
Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...
and
Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...
were married by special licence of the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...
at St George the Martyr Church, Holborn, on 16 June, in honour of Bloomsday.
Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', '' The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' w ...
's 2009 novel ''
South of Broad ''South of Broad'' is a 2009 novel by Pat Conroy. The novel follows the life of Leopold Bloom King in Charleston, South Carolina. It ranges from his troubled childhood to his adult life with his close group of friends. Plot summary The story is d ...
'' has numerous references to Bloomsday. Leopold Bloom King is the narrator. The book's first chapter describes the events of 16 June 1969 in Leo's story. In the novel by Enrique Vila-Matas ''Dublinesca'' (2010), part of the action takes place in Dublin for Bloomsday. The book's main protagonist, Riba, a retired Spanish editor, moves to this city with several writer friends to officiate a "funeral" for the Gutenberg era. American playwright
Steven Dietz Steven Dietz (born June 23, 1958) is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely prod ...
's 2015 play, ''Bloomsday'', features an American man returning to Dublin in search of a woman he met on a ''Ulysses'' tour years earlier. The play premiered at ACT Theatre in Seattle, WA. It received the 2016 Steinberg New Play Award Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association. It has been widely produced in the United States.


Popular cultural references


In film and television

In
Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
' 1968 film '' The Producers'',
Gene Wilder Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
's character is called
Leo Bloom The following are fictional characters from the 1967 film '' The Producers'', the Broadway musical based on it, and the 2005 film adaptation of the musical. Max Bialystock Max Bialystock is described as selfish, arrogant, fiery, impatient, s ...
, an homage to Joyce's character. In the 2005 film musical version, in the evening scene at the
Bethesda Fountain Bethesda Terrace and Fountain are two architectural features overlooking the southern shore of the Lake in New York City's Central Park. The fountain, with its ''Angel of the Waters'' statue, is located in the center of the terrace. Bethesda ...
in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
, Leo asks, "When will it be Bloom's day?". However, in the earlier scene in which Bloom first meets Max Bialystock, the office wall calendar shows that the current day is 16 June, indicating that it is, in fact, Bloomsday. Richard Linklater alludes to ''Ulysses'' in two of his films. In 1991's ''Slacker (film), Slacker'', a character reads an excerpt from ''Ulysses'' after convincing his friends to dump a tent and a typewriter in a river as a response to a prior lover's infidelity. The film also takes place over a 24-hour period. In 1995's ''Before Sunrise'', events take place on 16 June. A 2009 episode of the cartoon ''The Simpsons'', "In the Name of the Grandfather", featured the family's trip to Dublin and Lisa Simpson, Lisa's reference to Bloomsday.


In music

Punk band Minutemen (band), Minutemen have a song on their 1984 ''Double Nickels on the Dime'' album entitled "June 16th", which is named after Bloomsday. U2's 2009 song "Breathe (U2 song), Breathe" refers to events taking place on a fictitious 16 June. Dublin band Fontaines D.C.’s song “Bloomsday” from their 2022 album “Skinty Fia” also references the holiday.


References


External links


Bloomsday Central

''Paris Review'' article, "Bloomsday Explained," by Jonathan Goldman

James Joyce Centre, Dublin, Ireland

The Paris Bloomsday Group
* National Public Radio, NPR
Celebrating the 'Bloomsday' Centennial

Seattle Bloomsday readings


* BBC News Online, BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3812973.stm Fans descend on Joyce's Dublin]
Celebrations mark Joyce centenaryIn pictures: Bloomsday celebrations

Bloomsday Santa Maria – RS (Brazil): A literary party since 1994


* [http://www.rosenbach.org/bloomsday The Rosenbach Museum & Library (Philadelphia)]
The Bloomsday Band (San Francisco)

Pittsburgh's 20th anniversary celebration of Bloomsday

Joyce Museum Trieste





Photo: Cronin, Ryan and Flann O'Brien setting off from Martello tower

Photo: Ryan, Kavanagh, Cronin, Brian O’Nolan, Tom Joyce
{{Brian O'Nolan Bloomsday, Cultural depictions of James Joyce June observances Ulysses (novel) Unofficial observances