“The artist, like the God of the creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails.”

Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic

James Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He helped shape modernism and is widely regarded as a major writer of the 20th century. He is best known for Ulysses, a novel that reworks episodes from Homer’s Odyssey through a range of literary styles, especially stream of consciousness. Other well-known works include Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and Finnegans Wake. He also wrote two books of poetry, a play, letters, and occasional journalism.