Bloomsday 2020: Here's all you need to know about its meaning, history, and celebration

June 16 is observed as Bloomsday every year for commemorating and celebrating the life of the Irish writer, James Joyce. The Irish novelist, poet and teacher has significantly contributed to the modernist avant-garde and is also regarded as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Bloomsday is celebrated with respect to his popular novel Ulysses, which takes place in 1904 and is named after the last name of the protagonist of the novel, Leopold Bloom. Thus, read to know more about the meaning, history and celebration of Bloomsday.

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Bloomsday meaning

Also known as Lá Bloom, Bloomsday not only celebrates the life of James Joyce but also his iconic novel, Ulysses. The novel was published by Sylvia Beach in Paris on Joyce's 40th birthday, i.e. February 2, 1922.  The novel is considered one of the most prominent works in modernist literature. Ulysses essays the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, on an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. Thus, Bloomsday is annually celebrated in Dublin and other parts of the world on June 16 and the celebration is named after its protagonist's last name, i.e. Bloom to celebrate his remarkable contribution to 20th-century's literature.

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Bloomsday history

After Ulysses was published in 1922, the Irish writer’s friends began to observe June 16 as Bloomsday. The first mention of Bloomsday was found in a letter by James Joyce to Miss Weaver on June 27, 1924, which referred to a group of people who celebrated what they called Bloom's day – 16 June. The first major Bloomsday celebration was observed in 1929. The first Bloomsday in Ireland was celebrated in 1954, which marked the fiftieth anniversary of Bloomsday. On its fiftieth anniversary, writer Flann O'Brien and Patrick Kavanagh visited several places across the island, reading parts of Ulysses.

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Bloomsday celebration 

Joyce's admirers, popularly known as Joyceans, celebrate Bloomsday across the world with performances, readings, re-enactments, and a bunch of other events. The celebrations often comprise dressing up like the characters from the book and visiting the establishments and places referenced in Ulysses. However, Bloomsday 2020 celebrations, which included dozens of planned events on June 16, had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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