Bloomsday 2020 Becomes Virtual and Sofia Becomes Dublin in One Day

Bloomsday is celebrated every 16th June by book lovers around the world. Named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in James Joyce's path-breaking novel 'Ulysses', it marks Thursday 16th June 1904, the date on which the novel follows the life and thoughts of Bloom, and a host of other characters, as he makes his way around his native city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland.

Covid-19 limitations mean that #Bloomsday2020 cannot be celebrated with the usual street parties and public readings worldwide. Instead it will be mainly a "virtual Bloomsday", for which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Museum of Literature Ireland have created a multi-lingual short film featuring performers from more than 40 locations worldwide - including Sofia - in which Joyce's immortal words speak to a contemporary theme: our concerns, our isolation, our solidarity and our hopes for the future in the context of Covid-19. Called 'A New Day Will Be: A Short Film for Bloomsday 2020', the film can be seen here:

Especially for Bulgarian audiences, the Embassy of Ireland in Sofia has also created a second version shot entirely in Bulgarian with actor Dimitar Markov and Iglika Vassileva, Bulgarian translator of Joyce and other great Irish and international writers. In this three-minute film Sofia becomes Dublin for Bloomsday 2020, as the locations from the novel are transposed to the Bulgarian capital.

In this three-minute film, Sofia becomes Dublin for Bloomsday 2020, as the locations from the novel are transferred to the Bulgarian capital. This version can be seen on the Embassy's Facebook page and here: