Bloomsday in Poland
Embassy Warsaw have a series of events running throughout the Bloomsday period.
On Thursday 2 June, the Irish Culture Foundation, along with the Honorary Consulate of Ireland in Poznan and the Faculty of English at the Adam Mickiewicz University, will hold the final event in their “Taming Joyce” (Oswajanie Joyce’a) series of lectures to celebrate Ulysses100 and Bloomsday 2022. This series was launched in October 2021 and has seen 8 wonderful online events (one each month) with key cultural partners and experts on Joyce and his writing from across Poland, Ireland and further afield. Ambassador Emer O’Connell launched the series in October and will be present again as the series closes in Poznan, this time in person at the beautiful Raczyński Library. Special guests include Maciej Świerkocki, author of the newest Polish translation of “Ulysses”, published in late 2021. Taming Joyce/Oswajanie Joyce'a | Ulysses100.
On Tuesday 14 June, the Embassy hosted a special “Bloomsday” event to mark the centenary of Ulysses this year. “Bloomsday 2022 - Ulysses Współczesny” took place in Teatr Polski im. Arnolda Szyfmana in Warsaw city centre and welcomed translator Maciej Świerkocki, author of the most recent Polish translation of Ulysses, as well as writers, literary critics and translators Jerzy Jarniewicz and Piotr Paziński for a fascinating discussion on Ulysses and the relevance of Joyce’s work in our contemporary world.
The Embassy has been working with Polish musicians and composers Marcin Nierubiec and Michał Sławecki to support the production of a special musical collaboration for Bloomsday 2022. The short video, directed by Tadeusz Kabicz, accompanies the new arrangement entitled “Silently”, based on the poem “Silently she’s combing” from James Joyce’s Chamber Music collection. The final video was showcased at our “Bloomsday” events on 14 and 15 June.
The Embassy took part in the Global Book Giveaway. At selected events, we will provided copies of “Nora” by Nuala O’Connor, which reimagines the life of Nora Barnacle, wife and muse of James Joyce. “Nora” was the selected book for this year’s One Dublin One Book initiative during April, joined by many book clubs around Poland and supported by the Embassy. Polish readers had the opportunity to meet with author Nuala O’Connor at a special online event on 11 April.
The Embassy of Ireland hosted a Bloomsday garden party on 15 June at the Residence of the Irish Ambassador in Warsaw, marking the centenary of Ulysses and the new Polish translation, and highlighting the importance of Irish literature in Poland. Translator Maciej Świerkocki and members of the Irish community performed readings from Ulysses.
