Since 2013, Neal Kosaly-Meyer has been learning and performing from memory, with acute attention to musical detail, the chapters of James Joyce’s final novel, Finnegans Wake. The project has received notice and acclaim from NPR’s Morning Edition, CBC’s As It Happens, The Stranger and the New York Times. Performances have been presented in Seattle, Portland, Antwerp, Mexico City and Dublin.
Part I, Chapter 7 will be performed here for the first time in person (it was previously delivered online in December 2020). Chapter 7, also known as “Shem the Penman” is a surreal self-portrait of the artist, and also of the process of the making of Finnegans Wake itself.
Content advisory: Finnegans Wake, Part I, Chapter 7 includes multiple racial slurs.
Wearing masks is encouraged.