Joyce's Obscene Letters to Nora Barnacle Published in New Edition

A new edition of James Joyce's famously obscene letters to his wife Nora Barnacle has been published, now that the works have entered the public domain following the death of Joyce's grandson, who had acted as censor. The letters, re-translated, annotated, and prefaced by André Topia, were previously known only through scattered publications that caused scandal for their explicit content. Joyce met Nora in 1904 when he was 22 and she was 20; they married in 1931, and he died in 1941. The letters reveal Nora as his muse and the inspiration for Molly Bloom's monologue in 'Ulysses,' as well as the couple's erotic dynamic, with Joyce often begging Nora to use obscene language. The edition includes a photograph of Nora as a young woman, correcting later images of her as a matron. The letters show Joyce's belief that obscenity was the highest form of beauty and that his literary work was being forged in these early years of his love life.