''The Cats of Copenhagen'' is a posthumously-published short story written by Irish author

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and illustrated by American artist Casey Sorrow. Written in 1936 for his grandson Stephen James Joyce, it was not published until 2012, when Joyce's work entered the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

in certain jurisdictions.

Plot

The story describes the city of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, where "things are not as they seem", and is critical of " fat cats" and other authority figures.

Publication

Ithys Press published their fine arts edition of ''The Cats of Copenhagen'' in January 2012."James Joyce children's story The Cats of Copenhagen gets first publication"
''Ithys Press'' This edition features original pen and ink illustrations by Casey Sorrow, letterpress typeset by Michael Caine, and handmade paper marbling and binding of Christopher Rowlatt. The publication attracted controversy, as the Zürich James Joyce Foundation's Fritz Senn expressed disappointment that the script of ''The Cats of Copenhagen'' had been copied from a letter held at the Foundation without consultation or discussion.Terence Killeen
"Joyce children's story published in Dublin to dismay in Zürich"
''The Irish Times'', 8 February 2012

Print editions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cats of Copenhagen Short stories by James Joyce Books published posthumously 2012 books 1936 short stories Novels set in Copenhagen