Erasing Odysseus

Bloomsday (June 16), 2022 performance of “A Bit of Ulysses and Erasing Odysseus” at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, Texas.

Part 1 = Speaker: Penelope Boyer; Visuals: West Wing of Toledo Museum of Art; Music: Arnold Schoenberg’s “Verlacht Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”); audio by Hurricaneseason 24/7; visuals by Penelope Boyer

Part 2 = “A Bit of Ulysses” ~ YouTube video of Irish chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan performing the end portion of the Penelope soliliquy in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”

Part 3 = “A Bit of Erasing Odysseus” (audio only)

Audio from final section of “A Bit of Ulysses and Erasing Odysseus” performed on Bloomsday, June 16, 2022

Performers:

Ruthifer Wimberly as Penelope,

Sarah Fisch as Eleanor/Nora

Sarah Tijerina as Lucy

Erasing Odysseus

A Bloomsday presentation:
Following a bit of illustrated babbling by Penelope Boyer, a short piece of Ulysses by James Joyce will be presented, succeeded by a hybrid Live/Zoom performance/reading of excerpts from Penelope Boyer’s Erasing Odysseus,
a piece of feminist neo-mythic fiction/auto-fiction in progress.

1. A Bit Of…
   a. Audio: Arnold Schoenberg’s 1899 Verlacht Nacht/Transfigured Night, Opus 4, Part One. LaSalle Quartet (1984) [11:51]
   b. Audio: Penelope Boyer babbling as recorded by Hurricane Season 24-7 Story Project, May 2022. Corrections: China Eastern Airlines, Southwest School of Art, James Joyce’s wife and daughter, float back through time, maenads threw [Orpheus’] head in the tide, hot shop, Toledo Museum of Art was closed for COVID during 2020 from ‘the Ides of March’ on March 15, 2020 through July 7, 2020 which is Tanabata or ‘the night of the star-crossed lovers’ in Japan.
   c. Visuals: Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio), rooms of Eleanora di Toledo (Florence, Italy), contemporary photos of Spain’s city of Toledo, the Minoan era wall paintings at Thera (Greece).
2. Ulysses
   a. Irish chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan performing the last lines of the ‘Penelope’ soliloquy in James Joyce’s Ulysses as produced by the James Joyce Centre Dublin, premiered June 16, 2021. (7:37)
3. And Erasing Odysseus (approx. 40:00), Penelope Boyer: Author. Project Director. Disseminatrix.
   a. Eleanor/Nora = Sarah Fisch: Actor. Writer. Comedian. News editor. Los Angeles-based San Antonian.
   b. Lucy = Sarah Tijerina: Tejana teatrista. San Anto desmadrosa.
   c. Penelope = Ruthifer Wimberly: Freethinker. Culinary enthusiast. Dog rescuer.

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Erasing Odysseus has been made possible through support from Artist Relief, the City of San Antonio, Gemini Ink’s 2022 Scholarship Program and PEN America. The author is a 2022 Finalist in Fiction for a grant award from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund.

The author wishes to thank Laura Araujo and the Hurricane Season 24-7 Story Project (San Antonio, TX), Ed Conroy and the Southwest School of Art (San Antonio, TX), Gini Garcia (San Antonio, TX), Kitty Hoffman (Montreal, Canada), Camille O’Sullivan (Ireland), Rebecca Cynthia Reisert (New York, NY), Lydia Sanchez (San Antonio, TX), Katey Schultz (Celo, NC), participants in the 2022 Hedgebrook Writing Group Incubator (international/on-line, originating from Whidbey Island, WA) and Katey Schultz’ 2022 EMERGE! Writing Group (national/online)—especially members of its daily extension this spring (national/online).

Big thanks to Zeke Tijerina @ Senior Planet, and Gabby, too!!!