If the standing room only crowds at Monday’s Bloomsday celebration are any indication, Santa Barbara’s love of literature is still alive and well and blooming — at least when there’s booze and snacks involved.
The James Joyce pub was packed to the rafters on Monday, June 16, presumably with lovers of literature and theater, all of whom came out to support the fourth annual Bloomsday celebration, the Indy Award-winning annual salute to famed Irish writer James Joyce, held on the day his most famous novel, Ulysses, is set (June 16).
“This was our biggest crowd yet,” said organizer DJ Palladino, co-founder of the event with Jim Buckley .
Santa Barbara, California; Jim Buckley presenting Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bill Egan reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bill Egan reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bill Egan reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bobby Lesser reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Roger Durling reading during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bobby Lesser reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Chryss Yost and George Yatchisin performing “Gas from a Burner” during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton 
Santa Barbara, California; Bobby Lesser reading from ‘Ulysses’ during Bloomsday at the James Joyce on June 16th | Photo: Macduff Everton
Guests enjoyed spoken-word performances from a host of local actors and writers, including (entwined by marriage and Santa Barbara Poet Laureate laurels) poet/writers Chryss Yost and George Yatchisin; actor/producer Bill Egan; co-founder Buckley; actor James McCarthy; local teacher and actual Irish person James Claffey; (entwined by marriage and co-ownership of the Mesa Bookstore) Palladino and Diane Arnold; actor Bobby Lesser; actor James Read; Santa Barbara Film Festival Executive Director (and Independent writer) Roger Durling; TV film and theater veteran Henry Brown performing with writer Starshine Roshell and actor and Boxtales founder Matt Tavainini; and actor/director/producer Emma-Jane Huerta performing the final reading “Penelope.”
This was an inspiring evening to see so many people who believe in the power of literature, all gathered to salute to a master of the craft. Not only that, more than $500 was raised in a raffle for a limited edition copy of Ulysses, which benefited the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation.
Cheers to this lovely annual tradition, which will likely need a larger venue in the future.
