From Joyce to Toibin: An Irish evening in Shanghai

Tsutaya Books at Columbia Circle has hosted Bloomsday & Beyond–a literary evening that blended homage, dialogue, and a shared reflection on how stories help us preserve what time might otherwise erase.

Saturday's event was organized by the Consulate General of Ireland in Shanghai as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, and brought together voices from across continents to explore how literary traditions are inherited–and how they resonate across cultures.

Let's start with the title. Bloomsday. For the uninitiated, it's not about flowers. It's about a man named Leopold Bloom, a day in Dublin, and a book–Ulysses–that changed literature forever. June 16, 1904. A Thursday. One man's journey across a city becomes a myth of modern consciousness.

More than a century later, here we are in Shanghai, talking about not only Joyce but the legacy he left behind–W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, and the newer voices: Colm Tóibín, Sally Rooney, Claire Keegan.

Writers who don't try to impress with complexity, but rather disarm you with emotional precision. They don't scream; they whisper–and you lean in.

The discussion, titled "From Joyce to Tóibín: Ireland's Literary Heritage", featured a panel: Wu Qiyao, professor at Shanghai International Studies University, whose wit could probably translate Joyce's humor without losing its soul; Bao Huiyi, Ph.D. from University College Dublin, who speaks about medieval literature as if it still breathes somewhere just beneath the surface; and Huang Yuning, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai Translation Publishing House, who led the evening with a blend of intellect and warmth.

And then there was David Murphy, the Consul General of Ireland in Shanghai, who opened the evening with a remark that quietly anchored the night: "For its small size, Ireland has a cultural imprint which is felt all over the world, including here in Shanghai."

As well as literature, he mentioned two Irish films in this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, and Nora Twomey, an animation director from Kilkenny, chairing the jury.

"Bloomsday," he said, "may begin with Joyce, but it's the perfect moment to celebrate the full spectrum of Irish literary brilliance."

And so we did.

After Shanghai, Bloomsday & Beyond event continues to Nanjing and Suzhou–each stop another chapter in this story of cultural exchange. And on June 16, the actual Bloomsday, there will be a livestream of "Old Ghosts," a contemporary Irish opera inspired by the Penelope episode in Ulysses.

Literature is not a monument–it's a conversation, long and ongoing. And on this Bloomsday in Shanghai, the Irish literary voice met its Chinese echo–not in translation alone, but in resonance.

Because when we read, we don't just inherit stories–we inherit the responsibility to keep them alive.