The International James Joyce Foundation was created in 1967 at the First International James Joyce Symposium, held on Bloomsday — June 16 — in Dublin. Its purposes are to encourage scholarship, criticism, and study in regard to the life, work, and career of the writer whom many regard as the preeminent figure in modern literature, and to facilitate and coordinate ways in which scholars, critics, teachers, students, and general readers may meet together, correspond with each other, learn from one another, and help each other in achieving a greater appreciation and understanding of his work; these purposes have been carried out with increasing success.
A central function of the Foundation is its sponsorship of the International James Joyce Symposium, held every other year around Bloomsday. These conferences gather together important scholars and readers (“Joycean” and “non-Joycean”) from all over the world. Past Symposia have been held in such sites as Trieste, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Copenhagen, Venice, Monaco, Seville, Rome, London, Budapest, Prague, and, of course, Dublin.
Anyone interested in the aims of The International James Joyce Foundation may join by the payment of dues. Membership in the Foundation enables one to keep close touch with current international Joyce scholarship and activities and to subscribe to various Joyce-related periodicals at discounted rates.
The Board of Trustees of the International James Joyce Foundation consists of eighteen members, each serving a term of six years.