Hand Me My Wordsworth

I'm not sure what he meant when he wrote it but I was delighted to see that Joyce wrote, "Hand me my Wordsworth" as I read my Wordsworth Classics edition of Ulysses.

A Confused Looking William Wordsworth

Wordsworth Editions was founded in the late 80s so it has to be a reference to the English poet William Wordsworth but why Joyce wrote the line or what he meant, is beyond me.

I looked up the Ulysses Project's website to see if they had any details on this particular quote and came up empty.

I can only presume that James Joyce wanted either a copy of Wordsworth poetry but it doesn't make sense why he would say that during that particular passage. Maybe Joyce wanted us to hand him a copy of his books published by Wordsworth Editions.

While Wordsworth Editions wasn't founded until 1987, they have been kind enough to offer five collections of James Joyce's life work to giveaway.

His Wordsworth Collection

If you would like to win one of the five collections, all you you have to do is share a selfie with a copy of Ulysses and tag @thegroundhogdaychallenge on Instagram.

Well, one of four remaining collections as I have to congratulate Eugenia Sánchez Acosta who won the February giveaway. Eugenia Sánchez has been following The Groundhog Day Challenge since it started in late October and was one of the first people to send selfies and shelfies with her many copies of Ulises.

To be honest, I didn't think that Eugenia needed anymore editions but it turns out that she really wanted to start buying Joyce's works in English too.

LIGHTREADING: Eugenia with her collection of Ulises.

Hand Her, Her Wordsworth

Thanks to Wordsworth Editions, there is a copy of A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, Ulysses, Dubliners, and Finnegan's Wake on their way to Uruguay, and I really look forward to seeing an image of Eugenia with her collection of Wordsworth Editions.

All winners will be asked to share an image with their Wordsworth too.

How To Win

Your Own Wordsworth

The idea is to share a selfie with Ulysses like many people from around the world already have but if you don't already have a copy of the book then you are in luck as there are four left to giveaway, one in March, one in April, one in May and the final one around Bloomsday.

Borrow a copy of the book, visit a library, or bookshop, download a digital version, draw a picture of Joyce, Bloom or Ulysses and share the picture.

Too shy for a selfie then share a shelfie of your book or bookshelves.

Eugenia with the selfie she posted in February.

What matters most is getting Joyce into the hands of people who really want to read his work in the centenary year.

If you don't have Instagram, then e-mail groundhogdaychallenge@gmail.com and it will be posted on @thegroundhogdaychallenge.

You can use any version of Ulysses, in any language of course and you could even post empty space on a bookshelf, saying, "Hand me my Wordsworth" and if you get the most likes on Instagram, we will hand your own collection of Joyce's work, curtesy of Wordsworth Editions.

Congratulations again to Eugenia Sánchez Acosta. Check out her shelfie from November.

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