Join the Poetry Brothel this Bloomsday eve for Midnight Mass in the bowels of a former eighteenth-century church. Traverse the guilty and shameful pleasures of Joyce's mind to find solace and liberation in the sensuality of the arts.

The Poetry Brothel is an immersive literary cabaret nightclub experience, a place where jazz musicians, burlesque dancers, body painters, magicians, drag performers and tarot card readers mingle and perform — but poetry holds centre stage as the headline act. The line-up will include many stars of Dublin’s vibrant and growing spoken word movement, who will perform onstage and will be available (for a fee) to take you into a dark corner to read you a poem, one-to-one. VIP registration (€50) guarantees premium seating and exxxclusive access to all the evening's artists and performers, as well as a selection of take-home goodies and other special treats.

Already a celebrated phenomenon in New York, Paris, Barcelona, New Orleans and Buenos Aires, the Poetry Brothel has taken Dublin by storm. Don’t miss your chance to experience it this Bloomsday.

The Line-Up

This year's brothel features a cracking line-up of talent from home and abroad, including: 

Folk storytelling from Candlelit Tales

Music from Branwen Kavanagh of Twin Headed Wolf

A DJ set by the legendary Donal Dineen

Burlesque by Bella Agogo

Performance art from Lena Chen (Berlin)

A special guest poetry performance by Miss Delirium (London).

Online bookings for this event are now closed. Tickets will be available on the door.

Food is everywhere in Joyce’s Ulysses, whether it’s Bloom’s pork kidney breakfast, his lunch of gorgonzola and Burgundy in Davy Byrne’s pub or the potato he carries in his pocket as a talisman of his Irish mother. Through its focus on the body and its natural processes, the novel constantly reminds us of the significance of food in our lives; at one point, Bloom even makes the lofty claim that "peace and war depend on some fellow’s digestion". Food has also become central to Bloomsday celebrations over the years, so we’re delighted to be collaborating with Irish Food Trail this year to bring you the Joyce of Food, a three-hour food and drink tour inspired by Joyce’s Ulysses.

You’ll be brought around to three traditional Irish eateries by a local professional guide, who’ll fill in the gaps between stops with a walking tour through the streets of the city providing history, fun facts and recommendations. Each restaurant will provide a different course inspired by Joyce’s work accompanied by a reading of the excerpt from Ulysses to which it relates. You’ll enjoy starters, mains and desserts all paired with a glass of Irish beer, cider, or wine - you won’t go home hungry.

Joyce’s Ulysses was published in full for the first time in 1922, but it had been introduced to the world four years earlier with the publication of the first episode, ‘Telemachus’, in the American journal The Little Review in March 1918. Ulysses continued to appear in The Little Review in serial form until December 1920, when the ‘Nausicaa’ episode aroused the attention of the censors and was subsequently banned for obscenity in the United States. This incident rocketed Joyce and his still incomplete work into the public eye and paved the way for its eventual world fame as it became the centre of debates over the distinction between obscenity and art.

This year, we’re celebrating the centenary of the serialisation of Ulysses by gathering some key figures from the contemporary Irish literary scene in Joyce’s alma mater, Belvedere College, to discuss the legacy and continuing importance of little magazines. The conversation will be led by Susan Tomaselli (gorse) and will feature contributors Declan Meade (The Stinging Fly), Tara McEvoy (The Tangerine) and Laura Cassidy (Banshee), who’ll be discussing everything from the fascinating history of serialisation and the literary periodical to the recent resurgence of the form in contemporary Ireland.

This event is supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

Tickets for this event are no longer available online, but tickets will be available on the door!

Food is everywhere in Joyce’s Ulysses, whether it’s Bloom’s pork kidney breakfast, his lunch of gorgonzola and Burgundy in Davy Byrne’s pub or the potato he carries in his pocket as a talisman of his Irish mother. Through its focus on the body and its natural processes, the novel constantly reminds us of the significance of food in our lives; at one point, Bloom even makes the lofty claim that "peace and war depend on some fellow’s digestion". Food has also become central to Bloomsday celebrations over the years, so we’re delighted to be collaborating with Irish Food Trail this year to bring you the Joyce of Food, a three-hour food and drink tour inspired by Joyce’s Ulysses.

You’ll be brought around to three traditional Irish eateries by a local professional guide, who’ll fill in the gaps between stops with a walking tour through the streets of the city providing history, fun facts and recommendations. Each restaurant will provide a different course inspired by Joyce’s work accompanied by a reading of the excerpt from Ulysses to which it relates. You’ll enjoy starters, mains and desserts all paired with a glass of Irish beer, cider, or wine - you won’t go home hungry.

Performed by Ellen Demos, Paul Roe and Shane O’Donovan

The James Joyce Centre is delighted to host the last of three performances of celebrated composer Stephen Gardner’s Ulysses Extended on Wednesday 13 June. In this musical work, certain passages from James Joyce’s Ulysses are interpreted by a trio of Ellen Demos on vocals, Paul Roe on bass clarinet/clarinet and Shane O’Donovan on percussion. Throughout the work, Joyce’s words will be ‘extended’ into other sounds, both vocal and instrumental, with Gardner’s score serving as a springboard for various avenues of improvisation. The performance will last for approximately 35 minutes, with a brief wine reception beginning at 7.30pm and music commencing from 8pm.

Stephen Gardner was born in Belfast and studied at the Universities of Ulster and Wales. His works have been performed and broadcast worldwide. Recent compositions have been for The Crash Ensemble, The Ulster Orchestra and Te Deum Adoramus choir in Sofia. He was elected as a member of Aósdana in 2003.

Whiskey flows through Joyce’s works, from the stories of ‘The Sisters’ and ‘Counterparts’ to the life-giving elixir at the heart of Finnegans Wake. In fact, so central was it to his last work that, when proposing the ill-conceived notion of having fellow novelist James Stephens finish Finnegans Wake as his health declined, Joyce quipped that it would be apt to have "J J and S" under the title – a reference to one of Dublin’s most famous whiskey distillers, John Jameson & Sons. Whiskey also had an important historical and biographical significance for Joyce, whose father was secretary of the Dublin and Chapelizod Distillery Co and whose maternal grandfather John Murray once acted as sales representative for Powers.

Join us on this special jaunt around the capital’s bars to celebrate the many allusions to distilleries and whiskey in Joyce’s works whilst discovering Dublin’s rich whiskey culture. This two-hour tour will be led by a local expert and features stops at three Irish pubs where you can sample two unique Irish whiskeys and sample some delicious tasting plates of local food.

Joyce lived most of his life outside Dublin, but there is hardly a village or street in the city that doesn’t have some link to the author and his sprawling works. His unsettled family life meant that he moved address frequently in his adolescent years and his portrait of the city in works like Ulysses was so comprehensive that he once claimed that "if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of (his) book". Join us for this half-day bus trip from Dublin’s epicentre to the stunning coastline, trace the steps of Joyce and his characters and learn all about the author’s links to the different areas of the city in the company of our local guide.

You'll take in Portobello and the city's former Jewish quarter, stop by Joyce's birthplace in Rathgar, take your lunch in the beautiful village of Sandycove and head to the James Joyce Tower & Museum before returning to the city via Sandymount Strand.

Prepare for the street carnival this Bloomsday by embracing your inner Edwardian with help from burlesque star Bella A GoGo and Maite López from At it Again! You’ll discover the significance of style and dress in Ulysses as well as meeting some of the colourful characters that pepper its pages. Be inspired to dress up as the zombie-like Paddy Dignam, the flamboyant Buck Mulligan or flirty Gerty MacDowell. Discover why people dress up as bars of lemon soap or cheese sandwiches.
 

Enjoy a glass of prosecco while you are guided through dress up ideas and tips for hair and make-up that will have you cleaning up at the Bloomsday best-dressed competitions. Your complimentary goodie bag will be bursting with objects to help you celebrate Bloomsday, including a copy of Romping Through Ulysses.

Bella A Go Go is a vintage fashionista well-loved on the cabaret and vintage scene in Dublin, who has danced and performed internationally. Maite López is a vintage make-up artist and one of the founding members of At it Again!, who bring Irish literature to life with their playful pocket guides. Originally from Cologne with a passion for carnival, she loves to bring a splash of colour to Joyce's cheeks on the streets of Dublin!

Join us at The James Joyce Centre for a provocative talk by Professor Neil Davison as he discusses how Joyce’s awareness of Albert Altman, an Irish-Jewish Dubliner and local politician during the era, influenced the Dubliners’ story ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room’. When Joyce’s piece is framed through Altman’s public profile during the historical moment the story is set, its depiction of the lament and confusion over the fall of Charles Stewart Parnell’s Home Rule leadership can be read on a more localised and nuanced level. Altman’s position as a Councillor on the Dublin Municipal Corporation from 1901-03 was a case study of the precarious position many Jews occupied in colonialised countries during the era when calcified racial divisions transformed the nature of imperialism across the globe.

In Ulysses, Leopold Bloom’s politics also appear to draw on Joyce’s memories of Altman, and ‘Ivy Day’ is the earliest piece in which the politician’s career influenced Joyce’s interest in labour issues as a necessary component of a future Irish independence. Through Altman, and later in full expression through Bloom, Joyce recognised how Jews, so often figured as outsiders to European cultures, also came to represent what has been called a third racial-space between coloniser and colonised during the late-stage of empire before the present postcolonial/post-Holocaust era.

Neil R. Davison is Professor of Modernism, Irish Studies, and Jewish Cultural Studies at Oregon State University. He is the author of James Joyce, Ulysses, and the Construction of Jewish Identity (Cambridge University Press, 1996), Jewishness and Masculinity from the Modern to the Postmodern (Routledge Press, 2010), and numerous articles on Joyce and other Irish authors, Holocaust Literature, and, most recently, Anglo and Francophone Caribbean authors. His work focuses on issues of race, gender, religion, and philosophy in twentieth-century literature.

Whiskey flows through Joyce’s works, from the stories of ‘The Sisters’ and ‘Counterparts’ to the life-giving elixir at the heart of Finnegans Wake. In fact, so central was it to his last work that, when proposing the ill-conceived notion of having fellow novelist James Stephens finish Finnegans Wake as his health declined, Joyce quipped that it would be apt to have "J J and S" under the title – a reference to one of Dublin’s most famous whiskey distillers, John Jameson & Sons. Whiskey also had an important historical and biographical significance for Joyce, whose father was secretary of the Dublin and Chapelizod Distillery Co and whose maternal grandfather John Murray once acted as sales representative for Powers.

Join us on this special jaunt around the capital’s bars to celebrate the many allusions to distilleries and whiskey in Joyce’s works whilst discovering Dublin’s rich whiskey culture. This two-hour tour will be led by a local expert and features stops at three Irish pubs where you can sample two unique Irish whiskeys and sample some delicious tasting plates of local food.

Dublin is renowned for its pub culture and, fittingly, Joyce captured a little bit of that culture in the pages of Ulysses. Some of the most important scenes in the novel take place in public houses, whether it’s the famous lunch enjoyed by Bloom in Davy Byrne’s, the musical interlude in the bar of the old Ormond Hotel in the ‘Sirens’ episode or the run-in with the nationalistic Citizen in Barney Kiernan’s of Little Britain Street. So what better way to discuss Joyce than over a few pints of porter?

Join our guide on a tour to some of Dublin's best-loved pubs and learn all about the life and times of the author in the establishments that inspired his work. You'll take in bars like the Gresham Hotel, Mulligan's and of course Davy Byrne's, where Leopold Bloom takes his lunch with a tipple. You’ll have fun, make friends, learn something and most likely forget it again before morning!

Joyce’s work has long served as an inspiration not only for writers, but for artists working across the disciplines, from music and dance to visual art and theatre. This Bloomsday, we’ll be celebrating Joyce’s effect on the non-literary arts by bringing together dancer Áine Stapleton, graphic artist Sarah Bowie and musician Séan MacErlaine to discuss Joyce’s influence on their practice.

Áine Stapleton works in dance, film and music. Much of her work has been inspired by Joyce’s daughter Lucia, including her film Medicated Milk and her upcoming choreographic work Horrible Creature (see also Fringe programme), which will feed into a second film. Her work has been described by Film Ireland as "brave, provocative and deeply sensual".

Sarah Bowie is a published author/illustrator, co-founder of The Comics Lab and lover of visual storytelling. Inspired by Joyce’s Dubliners, Sarah will discuss her Dublin Bus sketchbooks, which explore the micro-moments of people’s’ daily lives.

Séan MacErlaine is a woodwind instrumentalist, composer and producer. His work intersects with folk, free improvisation, jazz and traditional music. His latest album Music for Empty Ears was released this year. In 2015, he presented Alas Awake, a site-specific multi-disciplinary homage to Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, at the Dublin International Literary Festival. Séan will perform a short piece from the project on the night.

The Olivier Cornet Gallery has been involved in Bloomsday celebrations since its owner moved to the Dublin 1 area in 2014. Last year, they collaborated with Dublin Sketchers to create a visual response to Ulysses through sketching on location in the Parnell Square Cultural Quarter, resulting in an exhibition. The collaboration continues this year, but this time the Olivier Cornet Gallery has invited five professional visual artists to participate in the Joyce trail sketch crawl alongside Dublin Sketchers. The artists have been drawn from various contemporary practices including abstract and figurative art in various media such as 3D, print-making and painting. The five artists have charted Dublin, mapping the fabric of the city, to seek traces of Joyce’s multi-layered novel.

These artists are Nickie Hayden, whose current practice explores the everyday difficulties and historic traumas experienced by people affected by dyslexia, master printmaker Robert Russell, poet Paula Meehan, Olivier Cornet Gallery artist Eoin Mac Lochlainn, who has created a series of night paintings, and internationally known street artist Maser, who has created work from multiple line drawings and collages based on his experience with Dublin Sketchers.

In addition to the exhibition launch on 10 June, a series of events will take place in the gallery throughout the week of the Bloomsday Festival, where participants will be invited to respond to their visual experience of the show through other art forms such as poetry and music.

The exhibition runs from 10 - 30 June.

While attempting to secure the publication of his short story collection Dubliners in 1906, Joyce wrote a series of letters to London publisher Grant Richards in which he justified the content and structure of his work. In one of these letters, he explained to Richards that the stories presented Dublin life as he saw it under four of its different aspects - childhood, adolescence, maturity and public life - and that the stories were arranged in this order. This exhibition of paintings by Frank Kiely is inspired by the childhood and adolescence sections of the collection, reimagining scenes from the stories in a contemporary setting and probing key themes that remain relevant today; individualism and community, repression and obligation, love and grief.

The ecstatic joy of driving in a sports car in plain view of all, feeling on top of the world. A first crush on the girl next door and its consequences. Broken hearts from meeting invisible boundaries of conventional society. And the darker themes of nefarious intent and facing ones dark curiosity. They are all stories about growing up, and every picture is a vignette of a young person faced with the realities of life. As a whole, Kiely’s bright and inventive paintings evoke the hidden meaning and claustrophobia of Joyce’s classic stories.

Join us for the launch of the exhibition, enjoy a glass of wine and hear the artist discuss his creative process, the intricacies of his work and Joyce’s relevance in contemporary Irish society. Terence Killeen, James Joyce Centre Research Scholar, will lead the conversation.

Frank Kiely studied at the Royal College of Art graduating in 2002. His exhibition ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ ran at the James Joyce Centre in 2017.

The exhibition runs at the James Joyce Centre during opening hours until 21 December 2018