'Bloomsday' celebrations underway in Montreal

​June 16 is a key date for lovers of Irish writer James Joyce.

In fact, it's such an important date it's celebrated each year in Dublin and around the world.

It's called Bloomsday, the day in 1904 when Leopold Bloom, the character in James Joyce's novel Ulysses, took his walk around Dublin.

"Every June 16, all over the world, people have a special celebration of the book," says Montreal playwright Colleen Curran.

Montreal's Bloomsday celebrations are the only ones that span over several days. Events got underway on June 12.

On Thursday afternoon – the real Bloomsday –  there was a dramatic reading of Ulysses at the Westmount Library, followed by an evening lecture by Abby Bender, adjunct assistant professor of Irish Studies at NYU.

That lecture takes place at the Jewish Public Library, 5151 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road, at 7:30 p.m., followed by a reception.

Check out the video of Roy Surette, artistic director of The Centaur Theatre, and playwright Colleen Curran performing the dramatic reading.