"The Dead": An introduction to Joyce's masterpiece at the American Irish Historical Society

In advance of "The Dead's" run at the Manhattan Gilded Age mansion this holiday season novelist and Emmy-winning screenwriter Robert J. Seldman will explore James Joyce's masterpiece.

“The Dead” is the chilling, brilliant final story of James Joyce’s “mosaic novel,” "Dubliners" (1914). The setting is a conventional annual Christmas gathering which gradually implodes into soul-searching revelations about the limits and the promise of a marriage.

Many believe that “The Dead” is one of the finest stories ever written.

Robert J. Seidman is a novelist and Emmy-winning screenwriter. His most recent novel, "Moments Captured", is based loosely on the work and life of the pioneering 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, inventor of the first – or the second-motion picture camera. Seidman’s "One Smart Indian" is a novel about a Northern Cheyenne youth set in mid-19th century America. He is finishing a novel about Joseph Pulitzer’s ace reporter, Nellie Bly.

With Don Gifford, Robert Seidman is co-author of "Ulysses Annotated: An Annotation of James Joyce's Ulysses," University of California Press. This year the volume celebrated its half-century anniversary. Seidman is working on a documentary film, "Ulysses and Me", about the multiple pleasures and taunting mysteries of Joyce’s epic.

The American Irish Historical Society

The American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) in New York is an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and culture of the Irish in America.

Founded in 1897, it serves as a cultural and historical repository, offering resources, exhibits, and events that highlight the contributions of Irish Americans to the United States.

"The Dead": An introduction to Joyce's masterpiece will take place on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 6:00 pm at the AIHS, 991 5th Avenue, New York, NY, 10028.

For more information on the AIHS and its upcoming events, visit AIHSNY.org.