Anyone contemplating a biography of James Joyce has a formidable mountain to climb in the shape of Richard Ellmann’s magisterial tome. But Gordon Bowker has risen to the challenge and his James Joyce: A Biography is in the shops in good time for Bloomsday. This morning on Radio 4’s Today programme he was interviewed by John Humphreys about his discovery that Joyce had decided to renew his British passport rather than opt for an Irish ‘Free State’ (or, as he called it, a ‘Free Fight’) one.

Many thanks to Peter Morgan for the Today link.