Preview: Words and Music – James Joyce and Anthony Burgess

Having written my final essay for the third year, English-Literature course of Ulysses, I was left wondering much much more about what this formative piece of work means for English Literature. I realised that the course was only the beginning explorations of this formative, arguably monstrous work. As such, an underrated angle is explored at the event, of how Ulysses has influenced works after him.

In the event, Words and Music – James Joyce and Anthony Burgess at the International Antony Burgess Foundation, there will be an exploration of how Burgess was influenced by James Joyce. The talk is about contemporary intertextuality in literature, as Burgess himself was greatly influenced by Joyce’s style of modernism and neologisms and how this influence manifested in Burgess’ own work.

This event will explore the findings of the leading Italian academic on Joyce: Enrico Terrinoni. The event itself concludes Terrinoni’s research trip which was a week of working in the literary archives of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, and Terrinoni will talk about his findings to the public at the Foundation.

A captivating enthusiast of Joyce, I attended Terrinoni’s seminar at the University of Manchester on Joyce’s other work, Finnegans Wake, in 2018. This final piece of literature by Joyce holds linguists and translators captivated, and Terrinoni spoke to a diverse audience about the joys of translating this polygoted, elusive piece of writing.

Alongside the talk, there will be a musical performance by Manchester ensemble No Dice Collective, performing music from Blooms of Dublin, Anthony Burgess’s musical version of Joyce’s Ulysses. This makes for an exciting evening of Joyce and Burgess’ collaborative spirit captured in this event.

The talk will be at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation on the 13^th of February. With a wine reception from 6:30pm and the talk beginning at 7:00pm, the event promises to open up more layers of Joyce’s literary oeuvre in collaboration with Burgess’ literary legacy.