James Joyce's epic novel Ulysses will be celebrated with a day-long programme of events around the world and at the Auckland library, on Wednesday, 16 June – the centenary of Bloomsday, named for the main character in the book, Leopold Bloom.

The day will be launched by the Honorary Consul General of Ireland, Rodney Walshe at a special Irish breakfast, apparently involving quite a lot of offal, at 7.30am. You’ll need a ticket for this (and possibly a bucket). A ticket is also needed for the 6.30pm screening of Photos to send, a film which follows the journey of Irish-American cinematographer Dierdre Lynch as she retraces the footsteps taken by Life magazine photographer Dorothea Lange in 1954, recording the people of County Clare for posterity.

Free events include readings from Ulysses by special guests including Vincent O'Sullivan and Max Cryer, Irish music and dancing, a lunchtime lecture on Joyce from Professor Liberato Santoro (nice name) and a 'dramatisation' of Ulysses by the Jews Brothers Band.

The Dog’s Bollix Irish pub in Newton has a big night planned, with the Jews Brothers, readings and more. It also has the dubious honour of having the ‘most memorably named Bloomsday venue in the world’. Cute!

If you want to get an idea of how seriously the Irish are taking this, have a read of Gordon McLauchlan’s postcard from Ireland this week in the Listener, and for a bit of background into the novel, read on.

Ulysses is basically a cover version of Homer's The Odyssey. It is a stream-of-conciousness narrative recounting advertising salesman Leopold Bloom's travels during the course of a day and a night (June 16 1904) through Dublin's red-light district. The date is believed to be the day Joyce went on his first date with his future wife, Nora Barnacle (another nice name).

The book was published in 1922 but remained officially banned in the United States until December 6, 1933, as ‘dirty, blasphemous, and unreadable’, perhaps for the episodes that included masturbation, infidelities and public urination. The ban was lifted the same week Prohibition was ended, prompting attorney Morris L. Ernst to write at the time, ‘This week will go down in history for two repeals – that of Prohibition and the legal compulsion for squeamishness in literature. We may now imbibe freely in the content of bottles and forthright books.’

If you want more, try this Ulysses site. It’s not pretty but it’s quite comprehensive. Happy head-scratching!