The Syracuse James Joyce Society
The Syracuse James Joyce Club was founded by Richard Long and eight friends on January 13, 1994, the anniversary date of James Joyce’s death in Zurich in 1941. In 2022, the club was renamed The Syracuse James Joyce Society. Our main purpose is close readings of Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses, A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man, as well as other works by him. A smaller group spent nearly twenty years reading Finnegans Wake.
Bloomsday
As James Joyce’s popularity grew over the years, literary groups were formed in his honor throughout the world. June 16, 1904, the date of the setting of Ulysses in Dublin, took on special significance. Soon these groups began to read Ulysses publicly on this day. Eventually, the date came to be called “Bloomsday” in honor of the main character, Leopold Bloom.
This will be our thirty-first celebration of Bloomsday and will include excerpts of several episodes following recommendations from Blooms & Barnacles, a wonderful resource for the enjoyment of Ulysses.
Ulysses takes place in Dublin on just one day, June 16, 1904. There are three main characters: Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and his wife Molly Bloom. Stephen is a young Dublin school teacher, puffed up with a lot of literary knowledge but yet to experience the harsh realities of life. Leopold Bloom, an Irish Jew, is part of Dublin’s turn-of-the-century bourgeoisie. He is a newspaper advertising salesman. A humble man, he is really an outsider in the rough-and-tumble world of Dublin. His torment throughout the novel is his knowledge that his beautiful songstress wife, Molly, is having an affair with her theatrical manager, Blazes Boylan. Although Molly does not play a major speaking role until the end of the novel, her presence is felt throughout because of the jealousy and mental pain she causes her husband.
June 16, 2025
5 – 10 PM
Free Admission Upstairs at
Nibsy’s Pub
210 Ulster Street, Syracuse
315-476-8423
