A great way to acquaint yourself with Joyce’s ‘world of words’, Bloomsday celebrations are held every year around the world on June 16th — the anniversary of the date on which the events of Ulysses are set. To find out more about this extraordinary holiday, go here.

Heff
For obvious reasons the 2020 live show here in Santa Fe had to be cancelled, but in its place, the Lannan foundation commissioned a third Bloomsday lecture by the great James A. Heffernan (pictured – I blogged about his last visit in 2014, one year before I started hosting my own Bloomsday show. Read all about that here). The original plan, of course, was that he would give his lecture in person, but enter COVID-19, and serious changes of plan had to be made. Jim’s adjustment was flawless, though; he pre-recorded his insights and included a dramatization of Hamlet act I scene v by his son Andrew, a professional stage actor and filmmaker.
The title of the lecture was Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and the Ghost of Shakespeare in Chapter 9 of Ulysses. You can view the full lecture by visiting the Lannan Foundation’s website (linked above), and as part of the day’s festivities, we at JoyceGroup Santa Fe conducted a live question/answer session with Jim, also available to listen/view via the same link.
So enjoy, and we’ll see everybody next year!
I just got home from Bloomsday in Santa Fe 2017! Thank you for the most entertaining evening I’ve had since being in Dublin!
[…] been celebrating “Bloomsday” for decades. We discuss the novel, its impact, and the upcoming Bloomsday celebration in Santa Fe, with Adam Harvey actor, performer, and James Joyce geek; Grant Franks Tutor at St. John’s […]
Best Bloomsday Celebration I’ve seen. I thought all the Readings & Music were very well done, including Why Read Ulysses. For me the highlight was Adam’s performance from Finnegans Wake which had me Laughing through most of it & in these Depressing trumpian Times to Laugh like that is a Welcome Relief.