James Joyce

James Joyce was born on February 2, 1888, in Rathgar, a suburb of Dublin. He attended Clongowes Wood College, Belvedere College, and University College, where he studied philosophy and modern languages. After graduating in 1902, Joyce spent a year in Paris, but returned to Dublin when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He remained in Dublin for a year after her death, teaching at the Clifton School, Dalkey. During that year, he wrote an essay-story, “A Portrait of the Artist,” began writing a draft of “Stephen Hero,” and met Nora Barnacle, whom he would later marry. Together, they moved to Trieste, where Joyce taught at the Berlitz School. His collection of poems, “Chamber Music,” was published in 1907. He made his final trips to Dublin in 1909 and 1912 while attempting to arrange the publication of “Dubliners,” his collection of short stories. In 1914, the book was finally published, his autobiographical novel, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” was published in serial form in the “Egoist,” and he began writing his masterpiece, “Ulysses.” His play EXILES was completed in 1915. The same year, the Joyce family moved to Zurich to escape the war, and Joyce continued to work on “Ulysses.” The book was serialized in the “Little Review” and the “Egoist” until it was suspended in 1920 due to prosecution for obscenity. It was published in Paris in 1922. Joyce, now living in Paris, began working on his novel “Finnegans Wake,” which he completed and published in 1939. The Joyce family returned to Zurich in December of 1940, and Joyce died a month later on January 13, 1941.