We write to provide news of progress about the acquisition of the Joyce archive at Special Collections, University of Reading. This progress has been somewhat hampered by delays outside of our control, beyond our previous announcements of a schedule for curating the archive and opening it for public viewing; therefore, we thought it helpful to provide this update.

Work began last year on curating and cataloguing the materials then arrived in Reading, including the correspondence and family documents and photographs. The University has also employed a qualified postdoctoral researcher to conduct an initial scoping of the materials and to input to the cataloguing process.

However, customs delays meant that the portion of the archive coming from France only arrived in Reading in late April this year. This means that we have put in place a new timetable for making the collection available to the public and launching the materials for research:

  1. 26th September 2023 – 2 February 2024. Small exhibition of rare books, art works and artefacts;
  2. Autumn 2023. Full access to published materials in the Joyce Open Access Room, a dedicated space alongside our extant Samuel Beckett Open Access collection. Rarer books will be available on request via the Reading Room;
  3. December 2024/January 2025. Launch event for the archival materials and letters in Reading; publication of a physical catalogue alongside the web-based catalogue, with full descriptive content. Opening of archive for researcher use;
  4. Summer 2026 Conference about the archive with invited speakers and CFP.

Please address any enquiries to Steven Matthews, Co-Director of the Samuel Beckett Research Centre, at s.matthews@reading.ac.uk