Excitement builds for Bloomsday events in Cork 

Cork Bloomsday 2023 is set to be a two-day celebration of James Joyce and his links with Leeside.

On Friday, events will be held at UCC, the Crawford Art Gallery and Cork City Library. On Saturday all events will take place at Nano Nagle Place.

Friday’s line up kicks off at 12.30pm, as the Crawford Art Gallery hosts Angie Shanahan and Flicka Small, on art and Ulysses. The day continues from 4pm to 6pm with readings from works of James Joyce at Waterstones, from 5pm with Ruti Lachs and the Fresh Air Collective in Cork City Library, and 7pm with the UCC Book club and UCC choir in concert at Dora Allman, UCC.

The Bloomsday Festival is promoting the ReJoycing Conference on Saturday, in Nano Nagle Place, from 9.30am to 5pm. Organisers are inviting everyone to take part in discussions on the Joyce O'Connell family from Anglesea Street and Cork History, 1849 - 1900. There will be two discussion tables during the day.

Participants will be asked to discuss short papers in response to topics and everyone in the audience is encouraged to join in.

John Stanislaus Joyce, Joyce's father, was born in Anglesea Street, and spent his early years in Cork. The O’Connell family, consisting of John Stanislaus, who married Ellen O'Connell, daughter of John O’Connell, draper and politician, were related to Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator.

There will be a talk on Ellen O’Connell and her portrayal in Exiles, Alicia O’Connell (Sister Xavier) and the Presentation Nuns in Douglas Street, and the sale of Joyce owned properties in Cork.

At midday, William Wall, author of Empty Red Blues, will be in conversation with Dr Heather Laird. William Wall is the author of seven novels, five collections of poetry and three of short fiction, and the winner of numerous prestigious literary awards, including the 2017 winner of the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature (USA).

Dr Laird is a Lecturer in English at UCC. She is a postcolonial scholar whose research interests include theories and practices of resistance, Irish culture since the early nineteenth century, and the intersection between gender and class. Dr Laird lectures on James Joyce at UCC and has recently published on agrarian matters in Ulysses in the James Joyce Quarterly.

At 2pm, the focus will delve into the history of the South Parish Jewish Community in Cork, Cork’s commerce, retail and commodity culture, along with shipping and Cork Harbour, including Cobh and Crosshaven. Speakers will discuss the significance of Cork locations in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

At 4pm, Mary Morrissey will read from her forthcoming novel, Penelope Unbound. Mary is an award-winning Irish novelist and short story writer, and the author of three novels, Mother of Pearl, The Pretender, and The Rising of Bella Casey, and two collections of short stories, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive.

Mary has 20 years’ experience of teaching creative writing at university level in the US and Ireland. She was the associate director of creative writing at UCC, teaching on the MA in Creative Writing and leading undergraduate teaching of creative writing.

The evening will round up at 5pm with Dan Mulhall in Cork City Library, and at 7pm with a shindig in Aye, Anglesea Street, for tapas and songs.

Tickets and information are available on eventbrite.ie.