Bloomsday 2012, a Very Special Day!

Colum McCann reading Ulysses on Bloomsday, 2010, at Ulysses Folk House on Stone Street.

The great Irish writer, James Joyce, memorialized a particular day: Thursday, June 16, 1904. His masterpiece, the novel Ulysses, takes place on that day.

The "hero" of Ulysses is Mr. Leopold Bloom, so that date has come to be known as "Bloomsday".

On this year's Bloomsday, there will be readings from Ulysses all over New York City and the world. My favorite events (and the ones I intend to attend) are at Ulysses Folk House, an Irish pub downtown near Stone Street. This event will be hosted this year by the great Irish writer, Colum McCann, the author of Let the Great World Spin and Dancer.

The major event every Bloomsday is at Symphony Space, a theater on Broadway at 95th Street. This event is called Bloomsday on Broadway, and is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer, the host for the excellent radio program on NPR entitled Selected Shorts. (Selected Shorts consists of short stories read by actors or writers. It is a wonderful way to practice your English listening. It is good practice, and a literary pleasure.)

I recommend both these events as wonderful. If you can, attend both!