Something Special for 2/2/2022

The Groundhog Day Challenge wouldnt exist without the passion and enthusiam of the Bloomsday Society in Madrid, and a comment made by their founder Sara Cantó a few years ago when she told me that we would have to do something special for the centenary celebration in 2022.

She was talking of course about the anniversary of the publication of Ulysses which I knew was published on Joyce´s 40th birthday. It was only over the Summer when reading Romping Through Ulysses that I realised his birthday was also Groundhog Day in America.

I believe the Groundhog Day festival has been celebrated since 1887 but most of us are only aware of the event from the Bill Murray commedy of the same day.

In the film, Murray´s character lives a lifetime looped over and over again resetting each morning at 6am when his alarm clock chimes. Just like the comedy, I think it is fitting that Joyce wrote an epic masterpiece that takes place on one day which has become known as Bloomsday and I have given myself the challenge of finishing the book by Groundhog Day.

Fans of Joyce may wish to post pictures of their own copy of Ulysses or take a selfie with their book. Others may wish to comment on how they got into Joyce and what they liked or disliked about reading it. We have 100 days to celebrate 100 years of Ulysses and some will wish to try and finally finish it by reading several pages day.

This is a challenge and I hope you will join me and if you ever get the chance, check out a local reading group or Bloomsday event or pick up one of the many texts that try to explain Ulysses.

I have read two great books that touch upon the life and times of James Joyce that have helped me to appeciate his thinking a little more and the first one was by David Norris and the second by At It Again who are an incredible group that mix theatre and publication to bring Irish literature to life through publications and performances, and Senator Norris was even kind enough to send me a picture with his own personal copy of Ulysses.

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UNESCO City of Literature