Bloomsday in Chicago: The Queen of Ireland

Every year on 16 June, Ireland tips its hat, often literally, to one of our most iconic literary figures. Bloomsday celebrates James Joyce’s epic tale Ulysses, which follows Leopold Bloom’s day and night of wandering through Dublin. But it’s also become something more: a tribute to the written word.

Bloomsday and Beyond – Celebrating Ireland, Island of Writers – expands the scope of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s annual Bloomsday programme to include all Irish creative writers, present and past.

For Bloomsday 2026, the Consulate General of Ireland, Chicago and the American Writers Museum invite you to an event with writer, entertainer, drag queen, activist and ‘Queen of Ireland’ Rory O’Neill, also known as Panti Bliss.

As we continue to bloom into the beyond of our annual programming marking this day, this literary event will take us on an alternative exploration of Joyce’s work which sparkles with a few characters who can be considered part of the queer spectrum, through to the LGBTQ+ writers and literature of today. It will traverse the path to the equality and inclusion that exists in today’s modern Ireland, vastly different from a century ago.

Tuesday, 16 June 11:30AM-1:30PM
American Writers Museum
180 N Michigan Ave, 2nd Floor

Event is free, but registration is required.