Local writers celebrate Joyce’s Ulysses with Bloomsday on June 16 at the Irish House

New Orleans will celebrate James Joyce’s Ulysses with a Bloomsday get-together featuring some of the city’s most exciting writers. Jasmine Araujo, George Bishop, Chris Champagne, Addie Citchens, Susan Larson, Louis Maistros, and Chris Waddington will be among those who conduct a marathon reading of the towering Irish novel from 6 – 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, at the Irish House (1432 St. Charles Ave.). Booze and food, of course, will be available to participants and spectators alike. Michael Allen Zell is the organizer and host. The event is free and open to the public, and anyone who would like can read.

Cities throughout the world celebrate Bloomsday each June 16, the single day on which Joyce set Ulysses, and also the date of his first outing with his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle. New Orleanians have gotten together for the literary holiday at the Irish House since 2012.

Jasmine Araujo is a 2nd grade teacher at Bricolage Academy.

George Bishop’s stories and essays have appeared in publications such as The Oxford American, The Third Coast, Press, American Writing, The Turkish Daily News, The Caspian Business News, and Vorm.

Chris Champagne, author of Roach Opera and The Yat Dictionary, has been voted Best Comedian in New Orleans two years running.

Addie Citchens is a fiction writer from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her work covers the performance of blackness, sexuality, sexual violence, generational trauma, and personal healing/liberation/triumph. Her art has been featured in the Oxford American, Callaloo, and Mixed Company. Her first novel, The Fire-Starter, was independently published in 2015 on Amazon.

Susan Larson is the host of The Reading Life on WWNO, New Orleans’ NPR affiliate, and the author of The Booklover’s Guide to New Orleans. She is the past president of the Women’s National Book Association of New Orleans, which presents the Pinckley Prizes for Crime Fiction, and she is a former member of the boards of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival and The New Orleans Public Library.

Louis Mastros is a longtime resident of the New Orleans 8th Ward neighborhood. A former forklift operator and self-taught writer, artist, photographer and musician, his work has appeared in publications such as the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Baltimore City Paper. His New Orleans historical novel, The Sound of Building Coffins, was published by The Toby Press in March of 2009.

Chris Waddington wrote about general arts and entertainment features, including classical music, jazz and dance for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.