English prof busy with 1 book published, 3 more on the way

Dr. Barry Devine has had a busy and productive summer on the literary front: One (massive) book on the shelves and three more on the way.

Last fall, we shared the news that Barry wrote the introduction for the sixth chapter of a forthcoming edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses. He is happy to report that the book finally hit the shelves this summer. But it’s just one of four books on which he’s currently working. 

The fully titled "The Cambridge Centenary Ulysses: The 1922 Text with Essays ad Notes" was published in Europe in June and in the U.S. in July. Although Barry was unable to attend the book launch in Dublin, he did join several online events. The editor, Catherine Flynn of Stanford University, was widely praised for her work on this magnificent edition of Joyce’s greatest novel.

“I am proud to be one of the 18 Joyce scholars she selected to introduce the 18 chapters,” Barry said.

The edition of the novel is a monster! It is 12" x 9" and runs nearly 1,000 pages. Cambridge UP actually made a trailer for the release of the book. Here is the link.

Barry recently finished a chapter for a forthcoming book called The Irish Bildungsroman, edited by Gregory Castle, Sarah Townsend and Matthew Reznicek and published by Syracuse University Press. He was invited to contribute a chapter on James Joyce and the Bildungsroman tradition. The book is slated to be published this spring, and Barry’s chapter is titled, "James Joyce's Epiphanies and the Buds of Bildung."

Additionally, he is co-editing a book with Dr. Ellen Scheible of Bridgewater State University called Teaching James Joyce in the Twenty-First Century. The co-authors have invited scholars from all over the world to contribute chapters talking about their pedagogical approaches to teaching the works of James Joyce and how they address contemporary literary and social issues. They are currently collecting chapter drafts from their contributors and plan to submit the edited manuscript to Anthem Press in March 2023.

Also with Dr.  Scheible, Barry is co-editing a collection of pedagogical and critical essays on the works of Sally Rooney, a contemporary Irish novelist whose works, Normal People and Conversations with Friends, have been turned into two successful television series. 

In addition to co-editing the collection, he will be contributing a chapter on his experience teaching Rooney's work in his Spring 2023 "Studies in Literature by Women" course here at Heidelberg.

“I will be teaching her latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You? along with a few critical essays,” he explained.

The co-authors are currently sending invitations to scholars who have engaged with Rooney's work and plan to submit the edited manuscript to Bucknell University Press in December 2023.