James Joyce (1882—1941) is best known as the author of Ulysses, one of the most important literary works of the twentieth century. Joyce was born in Ireland, but left his home country to escape the stultifying influence of his country’s social system, especially as reflected in institutional Catholicism. After a brief return to Ireland, Joyce moved permanently to Europe, living in Italy, France, and Switzerland, supporting his writing by giving language lessons. "Araby" appears in his short-story collection, Dubliners, which describes the lives of ordinary people living in the Irish capital. His novel A Portrait of the Artistas a Young Man exemplifies Joyce’s use of stream-of-consciousness, a technique that became popular among a number of the world’s writers. His masterpiece, Ulysses (1920), brought Joyce both international acclaim and financial freedom.

Major Works by Joyce

Joyce and the Web

The James Joyce Resource Center at Ohio State University has a wealth of Joyce-related resources, including a timeline, links, bibliographies, and an interesting image gallery. It’s a very good jumping-off point.

Interested in Irish history? This page from Irish History on the Web contains excellent links to sites about Irish Home Rule, which will help you put "Araby" and Joyce’s other work into a historical context.

This James Joyce site from The Modern Word is jam-packed with links to images, criticism, bibliographies, and anything else Joyce-related.