Coming soon: Public domain for writings
Happy Bloomsday, the day set aside to celebrate the life of James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which take place on June 16, 1904, “a day which for some of us is far, far more important than Midsummer,” says author John Naughton.
Time magazine offers five ways to celebrate. The easiest? “Drink up!” Complimentary drinks at the Ulysses’ pub in downtown New York, but for those of you who can’t make it, you can probably track down a Guinness at the local Safeway.
Not to be outdone, the Los Angeles Times offers eight ways to celebrate – but here’s the funnest: a rare recording of James Joyce reading from his own writing, pointed out by Boing Boing in 2009. The James Joyce Centre says that he was recorded reading from his work in 1924 and 1929 at the urging of Sylvia Beach, publisher of Ulysses.
Naughton notes, “When I first heard it I was astonished to find that he had a broad Irish-country accent. I had always imagined him speaking as a ‘Dub’ — i.e. with the accent of most of the street characters in Ulysses.”
There’s even a blog to commemorate the whole occasion: Ulysses Meets Twitter 2011.
Still not enough? Think of this: James Joyce’s work begin migrating into public domain in January. That’s enough to bring a smile to this lady’s face.
Meanwhile, a different kind of celebration below:
Postscript: Dave Lull pointed out a Wall Street Journal article recounting celebrations in Croatia, Australia, Shanghai, Norway and Argentina. (And Dublin, of course.) It’s here.
Tags: "James joyce", Dave Lull, John Naughton, Sylvia Beach