St. Patty’s Day is on the way. Although it’s only a small, religious celebration in Ireland, we Americans know how to take a holiday and turn it into debauchery and fun! All this week, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th), we’re blogging about Irish writers, starting with arguably the most famous of them all: James Joyce.
To find the spirit of James Joyce, you have to travel all over Europe. To start, it’s best to visit his native Ireland–just as writer Mike Karsnak did for his James Joyce pub crawl through Dublin. Immerse yourself in Ulysses and start drinking your way through Dublin’s literary pubs. Joyce would have loved the raucous and the tribute to him and his work. Forget the lush green countryside and start drinking!
You might want to move onto Trieste, Italy, Joyce’s favorite city, to find his teaching roots and love of culture and language. Writer Kit Snedaker discusses how Joyce taught English, but also befriended an Italian family and learned their dialect of Italian. He also used this Trieste inspiration for his literary works and even got his Italian friend published.
If you want to pay your respects to Joyce’s grave, you must travel to Zurich, Switzerland. As Jennifer Eisenlau writes, Joyce’s grave is somewhat of an anomaly. No one seems to know where it is and there is no fanfare surrounding his tombstone. However, with Eisenlau’s help, you can most certainly find it and celebrate Joyce in his remote place of rest.
So start celebrating St. Patty’s Day early with LT. Here are some Joyce articles to help you get in the festive mood:
A ‘Moral Pub’ Crawl Through James Joyce’s Dublin
James Joyce A Portrait of The Artist in Trieste
A Visit to James Joyce’s Grave