Thornwillow Press To Broadcast Video and Audio Podcast Celebrating the Centennial of “The Book of the Century” – James Joyce’s “Ulysses” – 300 readings by Stars, Scholars, and First Time Readers
- Co-produced with the non-profit Thornwillow Institute
- Featuring readings by Salman Rushdie, Stephen Fryand many others*
- Featuring video footage of special copies of Ulysses– inscribed copies and rare editions, including copies of Ulysses belonging to F. Scott Fitzgerald and HG Wells
- Reading from special Joycean locations, including a Martello Tower in Dublin, in front of the former Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, and the former Little Review offices in NYC
NEWBURGH, N.Y.—June 6, 2023— As we wrap up the centennial year running from Bloomsday, June 16, 2022 through Bloomsday, June 16, 2023, in honor of the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s monumental literary work Ulysses, Thornwillow Press and Thornwillow Institute (501c3) are pleased to share IN FULL their pre-recorded relay-style video and audio podcast event, over a year in the making: a reading of the entire novel by 300 readers over 20 episodes. Celebrity readers include Stephen Fry, Salman Rushdie, and many others. Episode 18, Molly’s Famous Soliloquy, opens with Lisa Dwan, who is followed by Jay Eddy, Alison Fraser, Suzanne Jeffers, Ellen Adair, Meredith O’Brien, Donna Lynne Champlin. The episode, and the series, close with Aedin Moloney – who is currently on tour in Ireland with her one-woman show inspired by Molly Bloom, “Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom.”
With our readers, our listeners and viewers will, through weekly episodes, follow Leopold Bloom through Dublin on June 16, 1904. On June 16, 2022, they will be able to watch or listen to hundreds of our friends read the entire book over the course of 30 hours.
Clocking in at about 270,000 words, Ulysses is among the longest, most-challenging and most-rewarding books in English. Its publishing history paved the way for literature the world over, making it the stuff of legend. Its words and author have inspired and incited lawyers and judges, critics and fans, educators and students, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists of every stripe, for 100 years.
Thornwillow Publisher and President Luke Ives Pontifell notes, “A century after its first appearance, Joyce’s Ulysses remains just as controversial, inspiring and relevant as it was in 1922; the beauty of its language still captures the imagination and ignites the soul.”
Our Readers*: No matter one’s personal history (or lack thereof) with the book, podcast listeners will find a reader to relate to here. Oliver Jeffers, who opens the series, reads it for the first time, as do many of our readers; Malachy McCourt, who closes Episode One, shares his 41st Bloomsday reading – and many scholars, curators, collectors, and actors are as familiar with the text as he. Fry, who years ago composed a 90-second love letter to “Ulysses,” closes Episode Four. And Rushdie, who once recapped the plot in 20 seconds, opens Episode Five. Pontifell comments, “This tapestry of personally produced clips” – available in video on the Bloomsyear page of the Thornwillow blog and in audio through Thornwillow’s podcast, The Colophon – “unites an international community of readers who together celebrate the written word.”
A number of participants read from in magical locations, for instance:
- Collector and blogger Glenn Johnston reads in front of the former NYC office of The Little Review, the first publisher of Ulyssesin serial form;
- Screenwriter and show runner Patrick Macmanus reads in front of Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, where Ulysseswas born in book form.
- Chris Cerf, whose father Bennett Cerf first published Ulysses in the US, reads in front of the old Random House building;
- Rob Doyle is atop the Martello Tower next door to that of “Buck Mulligan” in the opening chapter;
- Thornwillow’s friends at the University of Buffalo Special Collections appear in front of their Joyce mural in downtown Buffalo, and their exhibition hall;
A number of curators, collectors, and book dealers read from special copies, for instance:
- A first edition copy Joyce inscribed to his brother, Stanislaus, read from by book dealer Michael DiRuggiero at Manhattan Rare Books;
- A first edition copy Joyce inscribed to HG Wells, read from by book dealers Kait Manning and Jill Mann at Pirages;
- A first edition copy Joyce inscribed to F. Scott Fitzgerald, read from by a curator Michael Weisneburg at USC;
- Curator Timothy Young illustrates his reading with rare source material from the Beinecke Library at Yale;
- Shakespeare & Co. Project curator Josh Kotin reads from proofs at Princeton
“What marks Thornwillow’s Bloomsyear readings apart from other marathons are the personal introductions by our readers who explain how they came to the project,” notes podcast producer Sarah Funke Butler. “Whether they have a deep history with Ulysses or are picking it up for the first time now, each shows us something about what it means to read Joyce. Their readings make it more approachable for those who are, as actor Taylor Nichols describes himself, “Ulysses virgins,” and for those who have encountered Ulysses in the past, they make it exciting to return.”
Thornwillow Press is also marking the Ulysses anniversary with the release of a new, letter press printed and hand bound 10-volume wrappered Installment Edition of the book, which was Joyce’s original publication plan – ultimately quashed by the censors; as well as a four-volume edition in a fine bindings.
* Other selected readers:
Actors: Aedin Moloney, Kathleen Chalfant, Donna Lynne Champlin, Alison Fraser, Brían O Byrne, Dominic West, Charl Brown, Rebecca Pidgeon, Winsome Brown, Whit Stillman, Edoardo Ballerini, Loachlann Ó Mearáin, Peter Duchan, Khris Lewin, Paul Hecht, Chris Eigeman, Taylor Nichols, Carolyn Farina, Kirsten Vangness, Sarah MacDonnell, Lotte Wakeham, Ellen Adair, Dawn Akemi Saito, Paula Plum, Michael Simon Hall, Rodney Lopez, Barrett Leddy, Patrick Myles, Michael Schwartz
Writers: Oliver Jeffers, David Mamet, Colum McCann, Patrick Hastings, Tim O’Brien, Phil Klay, Patty Marx, Richard Nash, Declan Kiberd, Benjamin Dreyer, Maud Ellmann, Rebecca Donner, Leslie Jamison, Idra Novey, Katherine Vaz, Rachel Cohen, Cecil Castellucci, Michael Higgins, Andrew Solomon, Chris Cahill, Michael Schulman, Brian Boyd, Glenn Johnston, Ally Bunbury, Turtle Bunbury, Mark Hussey, Susie Lopez, Will Hearst, Jennifer Vanderbes, Gregg Hurwitz, Randy Cohen, Jami Floyd, Anthony Appiah, Andrew Solomon, Chris Cerf, Katherine Vaz, Ben Loory, Ali Smith, Malachy McCourt, Dan Mulhall
Musicians: Judy Collins, Loudon Wainwright III, Rosanne Cash, Tina DeVaron
Institutions: Our Friends at Symphony Space, Morgan Museum and Library, University of Buffalo Special Collections, Museum of Literature Ireland, Princeton University Special Collections, Houghton Library – Yale, Vassar College Special Collections, the University of South Carolina Special Collections, numerous book dealers and private collectors, and members of the The James Joyce Society of NY
And Many More!