This Bloomsday, Ulysses is Free – Yes!

Bloomsday is here again, the annual celebration of James Joyce, named for the day Leopold Bloom wanders the streets of Dublin in Ulysses, and traditionally celebrated by a reading of Molly Bloom’s soliloquy reflecting on her marriage to Leopold (along with a pint of Guinness, of course).

This year, the copyright has expired, and Ulysses has entered the public domain. You can now see the original manuscripts of the great novel, along with other Joyce papers, online at the National Library of Ireland, perform public readings, or adapt the story for your own artistic work without fearing a lawsuit. For the techno-literati, there’s the new Joyceways app that brings the James Joyce’s city & words to your fingertips. Yes!

Got your Guinness? Then here’s Marcella Riordan as Molly Bloom (from the highly recommended Naxos audiobook), in a final affirmation of love & life: