June 2008
Sunday, 6/1
Monday, 6/2
Tuesday, 6/3
Wednesday, 6/4
Thursday, 6/5
Friday, 6/6
Saturday, 6/7
Sunday, 6/8
Monday, 6/9
Tuesday, 6/10
Wednesday, 6/11
Thursday, 6/12
Friday, 6/13
Saturday, 6/14
Sunday, 6/15
Monday, 6/16
Bloomsday at the Rosenbach Museum and Library
"How sick, sick, sick I am of Dublin! It is the city of failure, of rancor and of unhappiness. I
long to be out of it."
---James Joyce (22 August 1909)
Every year, since 1954, on the 16th of June, the world spites James Joyce by celebrating the odyssey of fictional character Leopold Bloom through the streets of Dublin, as chronicled in his epic, sometimes incomprehensible novel Ulysses. In many cities, there are marathon readings of his novel. In Dublin, enthusiasts retrace Bloom's steps through the city in authentic Edwardian dress, stopping at Davy Byrne's pub for a cheese sandwich and a glass of burgundy, or to mimic Buck Mulligan's dip in the sea.
In Philadelphia, the Rosenbach Museum and Library, home of Joyce's original manuscript, runs its own version of Bloomsday, bringing the novel to life through readings, exhibitions and talks that also commemorate Ulysses as an inspiration for multitudes of contemporary writers, artists and readers. The Rosenbach celebrates Ulysses in flux: this year, it explores Ulysses in illustration; as a comic strip or photographic series.
KWH hub members and staffers attended the annual public reading of Ulysses under the shady trees of Delancey Place outside of the Museum. This year's readers included the Writers House's own Erin Gautsche.
