 June 16th is known around the globe as Bloomsday, the day in which James Joyce's epic novel, Ulysses, takes place. It has become a commemoration of the story and a celebration of Joyce's life. The main Irish Heritage Center and the Air Theatre are marking the anniversary with a week-long series in readings, walks and songs. Leslie McVane got the rundown from event coordinator Susan Riley. Susan Bloomsday is coming up June 16th. And that's the date James Joyce Ulysses was published, right? Well, actually, it's the date Ulysses takes place on June 16th, which was actually the date that James Joyce first went on a date with his wife, Laura Barnacle. I knew about that. But tell us what the main Irish Heritage Center is going to be doing on Bloomsday. Well, the main Irish Heritage Center and Air Theatre and bullfinis and bookstores and libraries, the Portland Public Library. We have a whole range of partners this year helping us on Bloomsday Portland 2012. And we have a lot more activities than we've ever had. We have a whole week. A whole sheet of things. Starting Monday. Starting Monday, yes. Or today, actually. That's right, yes. This evening, there is going to be the Shoniki Nights, which is a storytelling session, Irish storytelling session at Bullfinis on one Monday a month, is doing a special Bloomsday program with excerpts from Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake and some Joyce-themed tunes and songs and all. And then on Thursday, the Portland Public Library is hosting a screening of Ulysses, the 1967 film. And USM professor Francis McGrath, who's a Joyce expert and one of the members of our Bloomsday committee, will be giving a talk on Ulysses on film, which there's actually many films that have been based on either Ulysses, Joyce, or anything related to their lives. So there's quite a lot of interesting information there. Will that be the same night as the film? That will be Thursday. Oh, yeah, I'm so sorry. Yes, that will be on Thursday, the 14th. Now, Ulysses is very long. Is the movie that long? No. They've judiciously tightened it up just a tad. Well, that sounds fascinating. And then there's some other things happening on Saturday. The weekend's going to be terrific. Friday night, my theater company, Air, the Irish theater and company in town, we are doing a piece we've done in a number of years now called Ulysses for Beginners. And it's really fun. We take Ulysses and use songs, stories, slides, jokes, games, whatever, to explain the storyline in one hour. So it's upstairs at Bullfinis, you come, you have a pint, you laugh, you enjoy yourself, you learn all about Ulysses. It's like Ulysses' light. Now, what night is that? That's Friday night at 7.30 at Bullfinis. That sounds great. And it sounds like it's going to go boom, boom, boom. It is. Just fast-paced and fun. It is, but it's fun. And it's very accessible. I mean, people walk away and say, that's the first time I've really understood what Ulysses was about. And what a great venue, Bullfinis, for some of these things. And Doug Fuse of Bullfinis has been a terrific partner in pulling this off every year. And we're also going to be back at Bullfinis on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, we are doing this really cool event that we call the Bloomsday Walk. And because Ulysses is about Leopold Bloom, hence the name, Bloomsday, walking through, and perambulating through the city of Dublin on that day. So we are going to walk through the city of Portland, starting at the Main Irish Heritage Center at noon. And then we're going to stop at Brian Baru, Longfellow Books, Bullfinis, Reras, and read excerpts from the book at every point. So it'll be, you can stop at Bullfinis and have a drink and listen to some Joyce. You can go to Reras and have a drink. Not that we encourage you to do all of them and drive. Mind you. But you're safe walking. That's right. Well, and you know, they do that in Ireland, as you know. I've actually done that in Dublin with the literary tour of a pub tour. Yes. It was fantastic. And this sounds so much fun. It is. And to learn something along the way. Yes. And people should dress up as a character. We are, we're going to be. So we're urging people who like this kind of thing to come in your best 1904 costumes. Well, to find out more about it, how can they get in touch with you? The two websites that you can get more information are www.errotheater.com and www.mainirish.com. And there is one more event on Saturday night at 7.30. We are doing a musical performance at the Main Irish Heritage Center, featuring Boghat, who is a terrific traditional Irish group who are playing around town a lot. They're wonderful. And a local actress, Janet Lynch, is doing her one-woman show about Molly Bloom, who is, you know, the last bit of Ulysses is all about her. So she's wonderful, and it's going to be a terrific evening. And that's the capstone of the event. It all sounds like so much fun. You just, everyone's going to have to change their calendars and just put down Bloom's Day Week. I like that. Well, thank you for being here. And I hope it's a great success. Thank you so much.