Global Bloomsday Celebration
The Rosenbach Bloomsday celebrations logo
It's Bloomsday today and there are celebrations going on around the world to mark the day on which James Joyce set Ulysses in 1904.
One of the most popular ways of marking the day is with public readings and The Rosenbach in Philadelphia, which holds the manuscript of the book, will be running its annual performance (as well as offering a special Bloomsday brew in its beer garden). Its festival runs from 11am to 8pm but those going along should note that due to inclement weather it is being moved to the rain location at Trinity Memorial Church at 2212 Spruce Street.
To mark Bloomsday 2023, Ireland’s global network of Embassies and Consulates have collaborated with Museum of Literature Ireland to create a new short film, YES I WILL YES in which performers from six continents reimagine the iconic last words of Ulysses.
Filming has taken place from Auckland to Abu Dhabi, Bogota to Beijing, Kuala Lumpur to Kyiv, and Lilongwe to Los Angeles. Among the more than 40 global actors, artists and writers featured are singer-songwriter Denise Chaila, performance artist Amanda Coogan, eminent Latin American actresses Gabriela Hernández of Chile and Bete Coelho of Brazil, Maggie Hoffman of acclaimed New York theatre company Elevator Repair Service, and French performing artist Cécile Morel. The specially commissioned music score is composed by Caterina Schembri, performed by Chamber Choir Ireland with solo vocals by Julia Spanu.
Irish Embassies and Consulates are also marking Bloomsday 2023 with a range of events in collaboration with local partners. Joyce fans worldwide can enjoy a 3D Bloomsday installation in Jakarta, an innovative mixed-media interpretation of Finnegan’s Wake in Mexico City, a Portuguese performance of Molly Bloom’s famous soliloquy in Sao Paulo, and the unveiling of a newly commissioned building-sized mural artwork by Irish artist Garreth Joyce in Szombathely, Hungary, inspired by Episode 5 of Ulysses.
In Dublin, Museum of Literature Ireland offers a rich programme of events for Bloomsday, while the Bloomsday Festival, presented by the James Joyce Centre, embraces an extensive range of programming.
