Bwogger Mariela Quintana attended yesterday's Bloomsday on Broadway celebration at Symphony Space. Here, she explains what to expect from a seven hour performance of two episodes of Ulysses.

Last night, literati, and admirers of Eire convened on the academic megaplex that is Symphony Space to celebrate the 104^th anniversary of Bloomsday. Each year the venue hosts "Bloomsday on Broadway", a commemoration of the day Leopold Bloom traversed through Dublin in Ulysses, James Joyce's epic and famously esoteric novel, one of the few canonical works left off the Lit Hum syllabus for the welfare of both freshmen and their professors. How could a work that could not be encompassed by our august Lit Hum be circumscribed in single, public event?

Dressed in a sharp white summer suit and a royal blue button down, emcee and co-founder of Symphony Space Isaiah Sheffer introduced the reading with the cavalier familiarity that only twenty-seven years of tradition could afford. In his opening remarks, Sheffer discussed the enduring relevance and accessibility of Joyce's work in New York City street culture and in the mix and flow of voices on Broadway. The night, Sheffer explained in his sedate, NPR timbre, would consist of a multi-voiced reading of the entire "Ithaca Episode," a musical interlude and then the reading of the final episode, "Penelope," performed by Fionnula Flanagan. As the final two episodes in the novel, "Ithaca" and "Penelope" are collectively known as the "Homecoming" and detail the culmination of Bloom's day (after he has returned home with Dedalus) and Molly Bloom's final address, respectively.

After Saturday's Flag Day and Sunday's Father's Day, our glorious three-day holiday trifecta continues as Bwog would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Bloomsday, a special day reserved for celebrating the events of a book we most likely have not read.

Every year, on June 16th, bibliophiles commemorate James Joyce's Ulysses, which follows protagonist Leopold Bloom as he wanders around Dublin on that same date in 1904.

Local James Joyce retailer Book Culture features nothing on its calendar indicating any Bloomsday reading, but Symphony Space, on Broadway and 95th, will be holding a performance of the Ithaca Episode and Molly Bloom's soliloquy tonight at 7 PM. Also starting at that same time and going until 4 AM, 99.5 WBAI will be broadcasting its annual Radio Bloomsday, which features readings from Ulysses and Joyce's other works, and stars apparent Joyceans Alec Baldwin and Anne Meara, among others.

If you know of any other Joyce-centric activities, use the comment thread and we'll update the post.