The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Tony Astran

Buffalo will host the 2009 North American James Joyce Conference, a five-day biennial symposium attended by Joyce scholars from around the world, June 13–17. Laurence Shine, lecturer of English at Buffalo State, is conference co-chair.

Shine, who joined Buffalo State in 1981, is a Dublin native and Joyce scholar. He said that Buffalo’s abundance of architecture, art, and theater—as well as the University at Buffalo’s James Joyce Collection, the world’s most comprehensive archive of Joyce literary artifacts and personal belongings—makes the city an ideal location for the symposium.

Dubbed “Eire on the Erie,” the symposium combines scholarly presentations and community events. James Hamm, professor of art conservation, and David Ben-Merre, assistant professor of English, are among the presenters. Hamm will discuss conservation concerns about the James Joyce Collection, and Ben-Merre will discuss Joyce’s letters.

Unveiled at the symposium will be nine Joyce family portraits that were restored by Buffalo State’s Art Conservation Department. The portraits, part of UB’s collection, will later travel to locations around the country.

The symposium also takes place during the 105th anniversary of Bloomsday, June 16, the day when Leopold Bloom, the fictional character in Joyce’s Ulysses,walked the streets of Dublin. Shine calls Bloomsday the world’s “only global literary festival.” Bloomsday Buffalo, the local version of the celebration, will include music, food, drinks, and Irish dancing at the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery and the Shea’s Smith Theatre. This is the 12th consecutive year for the Buffalo festival.

Symposium activities on Monday, June 15, will take place at the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College.

Shine considers Joyce “the best writer of the twentieth century.” He believes that Joyce’s works will shape the future of the English language.

“Joyce writes about the modern situation and weaves it in a tapestry with the history of civilization,” he said. “His works give meaning to life. He discusses the significance of everyone’s thoughts and successfully connects the most universal of things to the most particular.”

Shine hopes a successful North American conference will lead to Buffalo as a future choice for the International James Joyce Symposium. Otherwise, he is thrilled that Buffalo is on the “same plane” as Dublin, Paris, and Zurich as a global destination for Joyce scholars.

“Buffalo is a center of the Joyce universe,” Shine said. “Joyce is part of Buffalo’s future in tourism, and it’s only going to get bigger.”