Dear @FirstName,

Firstly, thank you from Frances and myself for booking your place at @EventName. It's one we've presented to hundreds of readers over a good few years now, and we continue to find it great fun and highly energising to meet new (and returning) readers of Joyce. Despite more than a century (!) of reading the book between us, we still find fresh meaning and surprises in this most astonishing of texts. It took Joyce seven years to write: we don't know how he got it done so fast!

Secondly, and this is pretty crucial, please remember the Bloomsday pledge: we'll never put you on the spot! While of course we always welcome questions and discussion, and there'll be plenty of opportunity for that on the day, if your preference is to sit quietly and absorb what's going on, that is absolutely fine.

Thirdly, a little housekeeping. We begin at 10am at 3ZZZ, 309 Albert St, Brunswick. It's two minutes from the railway station and the #19 tram rattles its way up and down Sydney Rd. There is also on-street parking, most but not all of it restriction free - do check the signs. Please arrive a few minutes early, so we can make a start at 10am. It's a working community radio station, and there are security doors, so if you arrive after 10am it may be a few minutes before we can let you in. There's good coffee shops nearby: we like Project 281 (guess what number Albert St it's at?) and the little coffee hut that's more or less over the road from 3ZZZ.

There'll be 15 minute breaks mid-morning and mid-afternoon for a cuppa, and an hour break at lunch. There's a microwave and some basic kitchen facilities, but you may prefer to get outside and get some fresh air at lunchtime.

We'll aim to finish about 4pm or 4.30pm, and if you'd care to join us we'll be headed to the Hotel Railway for a drink and a chat.

OK, and so to business. Here is a link to a PDF of five chapters of Ulysses, each with a brief introduction setting up the chapter:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QVYBQpoYgD5Cdbprx-wusdT672hDe74Q/view?usp=sharing.

There are 18 chapters (or episodes, as they tend to get called) in total, and these five are the ones we suggest you start with. One of the distinctive features of the book is that each of its chapters is told in a different style, and generally speaking they tend to get more experimental as we go along. We'll talk about this on the day, but for now we'd suggest you approach this like a first run at a crossword: go through it, see what sticks, gloss over things that baffle you to start with, knowing you can come back to it. So here's how you might go about it:

1) Read the brief "What happens?" for each chapter - there's a contents page at the start;

2) Pick a chapter, and it needn't be the first one, and have a read. If you find yourself puzzled at a few points, crash on and keep going. If you get utterly lost, give up and try another. Ulysses, like life (according to Forrest Gump) is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get. Every Joycean has their own chapter at which they first flung the book at the wall and decided it was more effort than it was worth!

3) Please don't feel this is 'homework': if you have time and inclination to read all five chapters, all well and good; if you get to sample a few bites, that's great too. And if you don't because you're busy, well that's fine.

Here too a very brief summary of the plot of Ulysses, by Sally Rooney:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1skA4c4cCRVPGakE9Ezd2FoQCIZHH_cEl/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=111611014186097745077&rtpof=true&sd=true.

It's from a piece in The Paris Review well worth reading: www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/12/07/misreading-ulysses.

If that's made it sound a bit too much like hard work, we've given the wrong impression. We both think Ulysses is the warmest, most human, funniest and wisest book we know, and we feel honoured to have the opportunity to share our enthusiasm for it with you. Ulysses isn't for everyone: but it is for anyone, and you'll be surprised how your own knowledge and experience brings the text to life - we're often enlightened by people with all kinds of arcane bits of information who know things that explain things in the text that we don't get. (Oh, and that should let you know that we don't have all the answers and don't claim to!)

If you need to reach us, we're on 0423 793887 (Steve) and 0419 004762 (Frances) or of course by replying to this email. If you're running late on the day, because of public transport hold ups or whatevr, there's no need to contact us - just get to us when you can.

See you soon!

PS We still have places available, so if you know someone who'd like to join us, please tell them about it. It's how Bloomsday in Melbourne grows!

Regards,

Steve and Frances

Bloomsday in Melbourne

Contact the host of Ulysses For Everyone: A Friendly Introduction