James Joyce

Irish writer, novelist and polylingual wordsmith, an intellectual literary genius who developed an original style and revolutionized the plot and character of fiction.

As a young man, Joyce's genius was recognized by Dublin literary circles. He mastered an encyclopedic knowledge of world literature, music, art and philosophy. As Joyce achieved literary notoriety, he and his family became the toast of the Parisian artistic community with the publication of his masterwork, "Ulysses" in 1922. Originally the stream of consciousness account of a day in the lives of Dubliner Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly was turned down by reputable publishers. The scandalous content, language, and unorthodox "stream of consciousness" literary style was too strong for the sensibilities of the day. Today, "Ulysses" is considered the greatest work of fiction of the twentieth century.

Joyce grew up in Dublin as one of 13 children, ten of whom survived. Originally born into wealth, his dad had an annual income and a good job as a tax collector. Drinking too much, spending too much and too many mortgages led to his dad loosing his job at 42 to never work again. Moving to 16 houses in the Dublin area clearly led to his articulate knowledge of every house, store and park.) He was educated at the Jesuit school and from a very early age displayed his precocious intellect. With a talent for languages, Joyce taught himself Dano-Norwegian in his teen years. In 1902, he went to Paris to study medicine. Blessed with a beautiful tenor voice, he began lessons for a concert career but when he returned to Dublin, he concentrated on his writing career.

On 16 June 1904, Joyce walked with Nora Barnacle, the daughter of a Galway baker, around the streets of Dublin. He had met her in a chance encounter six days earlier along Nassau Street near Trinity College. Four months later, Joyce and Barnacle left Dublin and moved to Trieste to start a new life.