James Joyce discovered Thomas Hardy on the shelves of the Capel Street lending library as early as 1896 at the tender age of fourteen. Joyce liked to find fault with Hardy (and with English writers in general) but in his letters it is clear that Joyce enjoyed, and quietly admired, Hardy's works. Joyce's oeuvre is replete with echoes of almost everything he ever read, so finding traces of the work of an author he knew so well in one of his stories, especially one of his very first stories, should come as no surprise.

Professor Martin Connolly's careful exegesis will show that Hardy may have meant more to Joyce and his writing than Joyce ever cared to admit.

Doors open at 6.30pm. The lecture starts at 7pm.