The Rosenbach Museum & Library will celebrate its 18th Annual Bloomsday on Wednesday, June 16th from Noon – 7 p.m. The Rosenbach, home of James Joyce’s original manuscript for Ulysses, holds this Philadelphia tradition every year on June 16th, drawing hundreds of friends, neighbors, Joyce enthusiasts, book-lovers, and curious passersby to Delancey Place to hear dozens of notable Philadelphians read from and bring the novel to life. This year, the Rosenbach will explore Ulysses as a Feast of Words as the museum looks at the importance of food and dining in the novel. [A fact sheet and schedule of events follows below.]
The June 16th Bloomsday celebration is free and open to the public and is held as an open air festival in front of the museum at 2008-2010 Delancey Place. Related Bloomsday events are held at the museum, unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.
Bloomsday is the day on which protagonist Leopold Bloom made his fictional odyssey through Dublin in Ulysses. Joyce’s Bloom, a modern everyman hero, is a wanderer in his own city, in exile from his own home. The Rosenbach’s Bloomsday program features public readings on the steps of the museum from some of the city’s most interesting business, creative, and media personalities, along with a special exhibition of Joyce materials. Nobel Prize winner Baruch Samuel Blumberg is among the list of nearly 75 local notables who will converge on Delancey Place to read this epic work of fiction.
The special Bloomsday exhibition A Taste for Ulysses (June 2 – 22) reveals the centrality of food, feasting, and fine (and unfine) dining in the novel, and Bloomsday readers will include Philadelphia Inquirer food writer Rick Nichols and author and Philadelphia caterer Steve Poses, with more culinary notables to be announced. Objects on exhibit in A Taste for Ulysses include the Rosenbach’s collection of mid-century photographs of Dublin bars and restaurants that appear in Ulysses and the manuscript pages from the eighth episode of the novel, the so-called “Lestrygonians” chapter, in which Leopold Bloom eats lunch and Joyce explicitly explores the topics of cannibalism, taste, feeding, consumption, and digestion.
A selection of this year’s Bloomsday readers include:
Bill Adair (director, Heritage Philadelphia Program of Pew Center for Arts & Heritage)
Peter Benoliel (chairman of the board, Philadelphia Orchestra)
Baruch Samuel Blumberg (Nobel Prize winner)
Sean Buffington (President & CEO, University of the Arts)
Dave Burrell (Composer, Pianist and Steinway Artist)
Fergus Carey (Publican, Fergie’s Pub, Monk’s Café)
Michael Coard (local defense attorney)
Ann Ewers (President & CEO, Kimmel Center)
Juliet Goodfriend (President, Bryn Mawr Film Institute)
Ken Kalfus (author of A Disorder Peculiar to the Country)
Declan Kiberd (author and professor, University College in Dublin)
Drucie McDaniel (Actress… as Molly Bloom)
Rick Nichols (Food Writer, Philadelphia Inquirer)
John A Paulos (Author, columnist for ABCNews.com, Professor of Mathematics at Temple University)
Sharon Pinkenson (Executive Director, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office)
Albert E. Piscopo (Trustee, Rosenbach Museum & Library)
Steve Poses (Food Writer, owner, Frog Commissary Catering)
Keith Ragone (artist & owner, Keith Ragone Studio)
Siobhan A. Riordan (President & Director, Free Library of Philadelphia)
Inga Saffron (Architecture Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Wendy Warren (Editor, Philly.com)
Dr. George M. Wohlreich (Director & CEO, The College of Physicians of Philadelphia)
The full list of 2010 Bloomsday readers will be available at www.rosenbach.org soon.
The Rosenbach will also offer an array of Ulysses-themed events, including the Ulysses crash-course Bloomsday 101 (Monday, June 14, 6-8 p.m.) at Fergie’s Pub (1214 Sansom Street), and the Hands-On Tour James Joyce & Irish Authors (Friday, June 18). Declan Kiberd, visiting professor from the University College Dublin, will join the museum for Joyce and the Everyday (Tuesday, June 15, 6-7 p.m.) to read selections from his book Ulysses & Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce’s Masterpiece. Kiberd will discuss a new take on Joyce’s classic novel as a story about ordinary citizens that honor the richness of daily life rather than an esoteric work for the scholarly few;attendees can also hear Kiberd read on Bloomsday.
The museum will live-tweet Bloomsday via the online micro-blogging service Twitter again this year. Rosenbach fans are invited to read about the museum and its collections, and on Bloomsday, experience Ulysses in 140 characters at www.twitter.com/rosenbachmuseum. The museum’s Twitter account will provide bite-sized observations about the event and readers and will correspond with select Ulysses passages.
BLOOMSDAY PROGRAMS & EVENTS FACT SHEET
What: The Rosenbach Museum & Library, home of James Joyce’s manuscript for Ulysses, celebrates Bloomsday with a series of readings and music on Delancey Place, a special exhibition of Joyce materials, and special events.Every year on June 16th, the Rosenbach joins with Joyce lovers throughout the world to celebrate Bloomsday, the day on which protagonist Leopold Bloom made his fictional odyssey through Dublin in Ulysses.
Where: 2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia
Events are held at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, unless otherwise noted.
Regular Museum Hours & Admission:
Tuesday — Noon – 5 p.m.
Wednesday & Thursday — Noon – 8 p.m.
Friday — Noon – 5 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday — Noon – 6 p.m.
Closed Mondays and National Holidays
$10 for adults, $8 for seniors and groups of 10 or more, $5 for students and children ages 5-18, and free for children under 5. Free for kids 18 & under on Sundays. The Rosenbach is handicapped accessible.
For Information:
(215) 732-1600, www.rosenbach.org
Monday, June 14, 6 – 8 p.m.
Bloomsday 101
A one-hour crash course on Ulysses. Ages 21+ at Fergie’s Pub, 2nd floor, 1214 Sansom Street
Tuesday, June 15, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Joyce and the Everyday, a special talk by Professor Declan Kiberd
Author and professor of Anglo-Irish literature at the University College Dublin, Declan Kiberd, offers a new take on Ulysses, suggesting that a story about ordinary citizens and honors the richness of daily life rather than an esoteric work for the scholarly few. He will read from his book Ulysses & Us: The Art of Everyday Life in Joyce’s Masterpiece.
Wednesday, June 16, 12 – 7 p.m.
Bloomsday!
Friday, June 18, 3 – 4 p.m.
Hands-On Tour:James Joyce & Irish Authors
This tour explores the many notable Irish authors included in the Rosenbach’s “English Literature” collections.
June 2 – June 27
Exhibition: A Taste for Ulysses
A Taste for Ulyssescelebrates the centrality of food, feasting, and fine (and unfine) dining in Ulysses. Accordingly, the Rosenbach will display manuscript pages from the eighth episode of the novel, the so-called “Lestrygonians” chapter, in which Leopold Bloom eats lunch and Joyce explicitly explores the topics of cannibalism, taste, feeding, consumption, and digestion. In keeping with this theme, the museum’s exhibit will also feature relevant artifacts from the Rosenbach’s collection, including mid-century photographs of Dublin bars and restaurants that appear in Ulysses.
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