Public access
Open
Venue
Lugo city centre. Locations are indicated via map links.
Date & Time
19 – 21 May, 2023
Language
Galician – English support was available
More info
The city of Lugo was the scenery for Ulysses episode VIII, Lestrygonians, in which Leopold Bloom stops on his long walk through the streets of Dublin to have a small lunch, a cheese sandwich, and a white wine from Burgundy. The food and the walk were therefore be the thematic protagonists of the Luguese interpretation of this episode. In this sense Lugo was the perfect setting for the staging of Lestrygonians under the title: Walk the wine around the Wall, both thanks to the quantity and quality of its culinary elements, and also to the diversity and antiquity of its cultural heritage.
Friday 19th May 2023
09.30: Introductory Breakfast. Location – Café Chocolate Churros, La Modernita, Municipal Market. Sponsors: Café Las Candelas (Coffee), Queixo do Cebreiro (Cheese), Mel do Courel (Honey), Pan (Bread), Manteiga (Butter), Torre de Nuñez (ham and cold cuts). Bilingual Facilitators: Yolanda Castaño & Cris Calvete.
10.30: What would the market be like in Joyce’s time? Location – Municipal Market. Guided tour to the Abastos Market with sound by the Legar Foundation. The Foundation is a sound heritage organisation led by the famous musicians Xavier Blanco and Martina Ferradás. They are researching and recovering the traditional sounds of inherited spaces and developing space sound-recreations live happenings.
12.00: Walk the Wine along the Wall. Location – The City Wall. Itinerary: Porta de Santiago-Porta Miñá. Wine tasting by Martin Codax Caves, Alhambra Beers and hard Cebreiro cheese. Fundación Uxío Novoneyra Team and “Camiños con Arte” – Lidia de la Fuente. English speaking guide for the international guests.
13.00: Tapa / Cheese sandwich with mustard and wine lunch (coinciding with the timing in Ulysses). Location – PAPRICA restaurante. Prepared by Álvaro Villasante with Premio Sol. Literary toast by Lois Diéguez.
17.00: Round Table 1 – Ulysses among us: Gastronomy and Literature. Location – VELLO CÁRCERE (Old Prison). The Galician Ulysses and our Lestrygonnians: the story behind the translation. Speakers: Patricia Arias Chachero and Susana Reboreda (FOP), Xavier Queipo & Antón Vialle. Moderator: Francisco Castro & Branca Novoneyra.
19.30: Danced reading of Lestrygonnians Chapter VIII. Location – CÍRCULO DAS ARTES (Circle of Arts). Exclusive stage production / danced reading with the 3MONOS Collective.
21.00: Dinner. Location: Restaurante Miraz. Literary brindis (toasts) by local poet, Genaro da Silva (to be published and distributed bilingually).
Saturday 20th May 2023
09.00: Breakfast. Location – The rooftop of the Hotel Méndez Nuñez. Bilingual Facilitator Tamara Andrés (EN).
09.30 – 12.30: 3 Public Symposia on the theme of Our modern day relationship with food – production, distribution & consumption. Location – VELLO CÁRCERE (Old Prison). Click here for detailed information.
13.00: Live concert from the City Band. Location – Praza da Soidade “Wine Quarter” in front of Provincial Museum. The City Band was founded in 1876 by the renown musician Xoán Montes. They performed an ad hoc Joycean inspired repertoire.
14.00: Lunch. Location – RÚA DOS VIÑOS / “Wine” Quarter. Literary toasts by local poet, Nieves Neira.
17.00: Round Table 2 – The relationship between Galicia-Ireland: From Leabhar Gabbála through the Atlantic (diet). Location – VELLO CÁRCERE (Old Prison) Speakers: Cid Cabido (Writer, author of Blumsdei, 2006), Lois Diéguez (President of Lugo Patrimonio city heritage association), Felipe Senén (President of Galician Friends of Museums), Keith Payne (writer, Cork University lecturer on Vigo University), María Linheira (Phd in Literature, specialist on nation branding including gastronomy). Moderator: Branca Novoneyra & Alberto Lema.
20.00: Dinner. Location – Cotá Restaurant, RÚA DOS VIÑOS / “Wine” Quarter. Exclusive historic reservation. Literary brindis (toasts) by Antón Reixa.
Sunday 21st May 2023
10.00: Breakfast. Location – Rúa da Raíña) / Madarro Patisserie. In the most traditional bakery in the city, located on the main shopping street. Facilitor: Tamara Andrés. Arranged by Nieves Neira & Tamara Andrés.
11.00: Group Reading. Location – Main Square. Reading by the ‘Lupercais’ poetry group, Galician Writers Association with citizen participation.
12.00: Guided Tour. Location – Wall or Cathedral Roofs Visit. Open with bilingual partners.
14.00: Lunch. Location – Mesón da Rúa, RÚA DOS VIÑOS / Wine Quarter. Fundación Uxío Novoneyra Team and “Camiños con Arte”- Lidia de la Fuente with literary brindis by Luis Valle.
16.00: Provincial Museum Visit. Location – Lugo Provincial Museum Praza da Soidade, Wine Quarter. Guide by the director and Felipe Senén, President of Galician Friends of Museums.
17.30: Lugo through the Ages. Location – Afundación. Led by the exhibition director, Manolo Gago.
General Summary
The tasting of Galician white wines, such as Albariño and Godello, cultivated in the Ribera Sacra (Holy Shore) of the Miño River, was one of the protagonists of our programme, as well as the exploration of our city through walking visits to certain emblematic places such as the Roman wall, a World Heritage Site. It is important to remember that Lugo is part of one of the oldest versions of the Camino de Santiago, the so-called Camino Primitivo – another key factor in the historical and cultural values of our city.
In addition to eating and walking, the visitors enjoyed a cultural programme that highlighted the close relationship between modern Galician culture and Joyce’s Ulysses, and of Galicia with Ireland in general. Galician was the first language into which Ulysses was translated – before Spanish, Catalan, Basque or Portuguese – and we wanted to highlight this. Minority languages, like Galician, still struggle for survival in Europe today.
In our lectures Joyce’s relationship with Gaelic, with Irish nationalism in the background, was one of the topics covered; in addition to the gastronomic literature which is so rich in our literary tradition, the history of the translation of Ulysses into Galician, and Galicia’s particular relationship with Ireland through the legacy of Celticism. We also explored the influence of Joyce’s book on current Galician literature. Lugo’s event was completed with a programme of literary residences in which the Uxío Novoneyra Foundation, located in O Courel, in the mountains south of Lugo, took centre stage, the Terra Brava (Wild Land) portrayed by the poet Uxío Novoneyra in his poems. Additionally one of the emblematic writers of Lugo in the 20th century, Ánxel Fole, featured. His stories portray the rich tradition of Lugo’s oral literature, whose 120th anniversary is being celebrated in 2023.
Lugo is a secret, a city with more than two thousand years of history, a symbol of a culture and a country, Galicia, linked to Ireland since ancient times. These events were and still are the perfect way for you to get to know Lugo and Galicia better!
Event video
Event Photos
Photo credit: Adra Pallón
