Chestertown Bloomsday II to Celebrate Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ June 16

A celebration of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, Chestertown’s second annual Bloomsday features
interactive and educational talks, dramatizations, musical performances, film, readings, food & drink, a cruise, and the ever-special dramatization of the book’s final episode, Penelope. This year’s event builds on last year’s launch with more of everything!

All events take place in downtown Chestertown and unless otherwise noted are FREE of charge.

Bloomsday Events:

9:00 a.m. Traditional Irish Breakfast

Best Irish breakfast this side of the Pond. Reservations suggested: 410-778-5000 Location: The Kitchen at the Imperial, 208 High St.

10:30–11:30 a.m. The Citizen Speaks: A Talk Through the Deep Woulds of Ulysses

With Jim Joyce; Bob Mooney, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Washington College; Phil Brady, Professor of English at Youngstown State University and executive director of Etruscan Press, and you. . . . (Reference: Episode 12 Cyclops)

• Location: Garfield Center for the Arts, 210 High St.

12:00–1:30 p.m. Making a Joyceful Noise Unto the Horde: A Musical Lunch at the Ormond, with the Misses Douce and Kennedy. (Reference: Episode 11 Sirens) Dramatization accompanied musically by Brady’s Leap, a New-Celtic group of poets and musicians with a passion for the life of sound and word. Lunch available for purchase. “Irresistible” – The Mediterranean Dispatch

• NEW Location! Cassinelli Distilling Inc., 327 High St.

The stills will be running! Watch Al Cassinelli produce hand-crafted brandy and gin. Plus, FREE apple whiskey tastings!

1:00– 4:00 p.m. Documentary screening: James Joyce’s Dublin: A Literary Biography

Kent County Public Library will be running the 50-minute film James Joyce’s Dublin: A Literary Biography, on the hour from 1:00 p.m.– 4:00 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Chestertown Branch. This fascinating documentary explores James Joyce’s native city, discovering the influences and settings for his life and work.

• Location: The Kent County Public Library, 408 High Street

2:00–4:00 p.m. Open 5-Minute Readings at Shakespeare & Company

Calling all Joyceans, come to read aloud or to relax and listen. First come/first serve, five-minute readings. A cozy back room, a podium, an open copy of Ulysses, a rapt audience, and you. Introduction by Elizabeth Foley O’Connor, Professor of English at Washington College. Refreshments served.

• Location: 112 S. Cross Street (known on all other days as The Bookplate)

7:00–7:25 p.m. Dramatization, Episode 18, Penelope

Starring local mega-talent, Melissa McGlynn, with direction by Tim Maloney, professor emeritus, Washington College Drama Dept. Plunge into the flowing river of Molly Bloom’s mind in the great revolving sphere of the last episode that begins and ends with

the female word Yes. (May not be suitable for children.) Pull up a chair or bring your own.

• Location: Staged in a bed on High St., outside the Garfield Center for the Arts

Two Evening Events:

7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Cruise on the ‘River Liffey’, Chester River Packet Boat

Board the River Packet for a charter cruise aboard this 65-ft. classic yacht for an evening of fine food & drink, and Irish music with magnificent views of historic Chestertown. Reservations: 410-635-0321, $30 per person

• Location: Boarding 7:15, Town Dock, foot of High St.

7:30 p.m.– until. Celtic & Folk Ballads with Brady’s Leap

Fun and refreshment with this New-Celtic group of poets and musicians. Brady’s Leap weaves ballads, foot-stomping songs, original music, stories, anecdotes, jokes, and poems together to create a lively evening they call “Poems and Pints.”

• Location: O’Connor’s Irish Pub, 844 High Street

Huge thanks to CHESTERTOWN BLOOMSDAY supporters: Washington College English Deptartment, Garfield Center for the Arts, Cassinelli Distilling Inc., Hedgelawn Foundation, Kent County Arts Council, Peoples Bank, and Yerkes Construction Company.