The aim of this conference is to provoke a wide ranging critical reassessment of Joyce’s relationship with his women contemporaries in the arts and literature. From Joyce’s extensive network of  ‘active helpers’ (figures as Sylvia Beach, Harriet Weaver Shaw, and Margaret Anderson) to his contemporaries in letters (figures such as Djuna Barnes, Mina Loy, Dorothy Richardson, Gertrude Stein, and Virginia Woolf), we identify a polarity in critical writings on Joyce and his woman contemporaries: women are either celebrated for the sacrifices they made for Joyce, or they are all but absent from critical scholarship. Joyce’s exploitative and often deeply selfish practices towards his circle of women ‘helpers’ is often glossed over, as are his many misogynistic comments on the abilities of women writers and thinkers. Many of these women experienced significant and enduring negative critical receptions because their work has been identified as ‘less than’ or ‘derivative of’ Joyce’s; a practice we believe stems from Joyce’s own ruthless dismissal of their achievements. These are an example of the conversations we hope to provoke, and the questions we hope to ask with respect to Joyce and his women contemporaries over the course of this conference.

Confirmed Speakers