'Ulysses of Istanbul' events to celebrate centenary of iconic Irish masterpiece

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – Istanbul, Türkiye's culture capital, will host "Ulysses of Istanbul" events to mark the centenary of the publication of the Irish masterpiece by James Joyce.

Panel discussions, film screenings, street art, and children’s activities focused on the idea of co-existence in contemporary Europe will be held in Istanbul, said Yapi Kredi Culture and Arts Publishing in a statement on Friday.

Istanbul is one of 18 European cities hosting events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's iconic novel Ulysses, as part of the Ulysses: European Odyssey 2022-2024 project.

Ulysses of Istanbul events will begin at Yapi Kredi Culture and Arts Publishing which first introduced the novel into Turkish with Nevzat Erkmen's translation.

The first program will be a series of talks titled “Is It Possible To Be Together?”, which will be held on June 5-6. On June 8-10, free movie screenings will be held at Yapi Kredi Culture and Arts, located in the city’s teeming Beyoglu District, and on June 10, performance and children's workshops will be held.

The Ulysses European Odyssey project, inspired by the novel's eighteen chapters, takes place in eighteen cities, including Athens, Paris, Budapest, Berlin, Copenhagen, Istanbul, and Dublin.

The project explores today's European map by focusing on current issues in each city. Each city was assigned a chapter from the novel and a theme related to that chapter, the statement added.

Istanbul was given the 10th episode titled "Wandering Rocks" and the theme "co-existence."

All the events are free of charge and open to the public.

Dubbed one of the most important works of modernist literature, Joyce's iconic 1922 novel Ulysses chronicles a single day of protagonist Leopold Bloom in Dublin on June 16, 1904.