This special episode marks more than just the textual midpoint of Ulysses, where the novel turns toward Oxen of the Sun. It is a threshold moment in the novel. It is also a moment when the mirror turns, too. 

Instead of us looking into Ulysses, Ulysses—and something deeper within us—looks back.

Strangers from across ten time zones, connected through the shared journey of reading Ulysses in 80 Days, came together live on a screen for a spontaneous, on-the-spot writing session. No time to prepare. A prompt in the real-time moment and then:  GO! WRITE!  TIMER SET!

Just five minutes to write about a personal “threshold” moment—raw, unrevised, and real. What surfaced weren’t just stories, but glimpses of truth.

This episode isn’t about studying Joyce. It’s about discovering what Ulysses helps reveal when we meet it halfway.

The Ulysses in 80 project is hosted by Mark Sanford Gross and Clíona O’Farrelly. With deep thanks to the brave writers who stepped forward and shared from the middle.