On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first edition of James Joyce’s “Ulysses”, the Embassy of Ireland, in collaboration with Ideogramma, is hosting the first Bloomsday in Cyprus on Thursday 16 June at 20:30 at the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia.
The first Bloomsday was celebrated in Ireland in 1954 on the 50th anniversary of the publication of the novel, and is the annual celebration of the life of James Joyce, one of the country’s greatest novelists.
The celebration day is named after Leopold Bloom, the main character in the novel Ulysses, and is held each year on June 16, the date on which the novel is set in 1904.
“Ulysses”, as Joyce describes it, “is a book from eighteen different angles and in an equal number of styles, which apparently my colleagues of literature neither know nor have discovered.” These eighteen angles are set together, each with a different style and technical narrative, and depict the story of a single day in Dublin, 16 June 1904, hereinafter known as Bloomsday.
As noted in an press release by the embassy, “Ulysses” is not just an emblematic book of world literature; it is a mythical book not only for those who managed to read it, but for those who acquire the novel and abandoned it, frightened perhaps by its shifting style and density.
According to the organisers, the event in Nicosia will be moderated by theatre director Andreas Araouzos, with the programme including readings from “Ulysses” (in Greek, English and Turkish), video and audio interview excerpts, as well as music interludes and a Celtic harp performance.
The Bloomsday events will continue with the musical performance Nobody, which will be hosted between 1 and 3 July at ARTos House in Agioi Omologites, with Marina Katsari and Vangelis Gettos analysing the transformations of Ulysses through the works of three world literary figures who were influenced by the adventures of the mythical Odysseus, Homer, James Joyce and Nikos Kazantzakis.
Source: Cyprus News Agency