The Cats of Copenhagen

Last updated

The Cats of Copenhagen
The Cats of Copenhagen.jpeg
First edition cover
Author James Joyce
Illustrator Casey Sorrow
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
Publisher Ithys Press
Publication date
2012
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages40 pages
ISBN 978-0-9570684-1-4

The Cats of Copenhagen is a posthumously-published short story written by Irish author James Joyce and illustrated by American artist Casey Sorrow. Written on 5 September 1936 in the titular city in a postcard to his grandson Stephen James Joyce, it was not published until 2012, when Joyce's work entered the public domain in certain jurisdictions. [1]

Contents

Plot

The story describes the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, where "things are not as they seem", and is critical of "fat cats" and other authority figures.

Publication

Ithys Press published their fine arts edition of The Cats of Copenhagen in January 2012. [2] This edition features original pen and ink illustrations by Casey Sorrow, [3] [4] letterpress typeset by Michael Caine, [5] and handmade paper marbling and binding of Christopher Rowlatt. [6]

The publication attracted controversy, as the Zürich James Joyce Foundation's Fritz Senn expressed disappointment that the script of The Cats of Copenhagen had been copied from a letter held at the Foundation without consultation or discussion. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

TitleLanguagePublisherPublish DateISBNIllustrator
The Cats of CopenhagenEnglishIthys PressJanuary 2012 [2] 9780957068414 Casey Sorrow
The Cats of CopenhagenEnglish Simon & Schuster (Scribner)16 October 2012 [13] 9781476708942 Casey Sorrow
I gatti di CopenhagenItalianGiunti Editore24 October 2012 [14] 9788809777675 Casey Sorrow
ΟΙ ΓΑΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΟΠΕΓΧΑΓΗΣGreek Psichogios Publications 30 October 2012 [15] 9789604969852 Casey Sorrow
KøbenhavnerkatteDanish Gyldendal November 2012 [16] 9788702132953 Casey Sorrow
Mačke KopenhagenaCroatianEdicije Božičević2013 [17] 9789536751846 Casey Sorrow
Die Katzen von KopenhagenGerman Carl Hanser Verlag July 2013 [18] 9783446241596 Wolf Erlbruch
哥本哈根的貓ChineseChein Hsing PublishingSeptember 2013 [19] 9789866798719 Casey Sorrow
Los gatos de CopenhagueSpanishEditorial LosadaSeptember 2013 [20] 9789500399708 Casey Sorrow
De Katten Van KopenhagenDutchHoogland & Van KlaverenOctober 2013 [21] 9789089671394 Wolf Erlbruch
O kočkách a KodaniCzechAlbatros Media23 October 2013 [22] 9788000033099 Casey Sorrow
Les chats de CopenhagueFrenchGrasset & FasquelleNovember 2013 [23] 9782246801115 Casey Sorrow
החתולים של קופנהגןHebrewAchuzat Bayit BooksMarch 2019 [24] 9789655560695Inbal Even

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Joyce</span> Irish novelist and poet (1882–1941)

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922) is a landmark in which the episodes of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in a variety of literary styles, particularly stream of consciousness. Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, letters, and occasional journalism.

<i>Finnegans Wake</i> 1939 novel by James Joyce

Finnegans Wake is a novel by the Irish writer James Joyce. It is known for its allusive and experimental style and its reputation as one of the most difficult works in literature. In 1924, it began to appear in installments under the title "fragments from Work in Progress". The final title was only revealed when the book was published on 4 May 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce Carol Oates</span> American author (born 1938)

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).

<i>Fetus-X</i> Alternative comic

Fetus-X was a weekly romantic horror comic written and drawn by Eric Millikin and Casey Sorrow. Millikin is an American artist and former human anatomy lab embalmer and dissectionist. Sorrow is an internationally known American illustrator and printmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomi Ungerer</span> French artist and writer (1931–2019)

Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer was a French artist and writer from Alsace. He published over 140 books ranging from children's books to adult works and from the fantastic to the autobiographical. He was known for sharp social satire and witty aphorisms. Ungerer is also famous as a cartoonist and designer of political posters and film posters.

James Harold Kirkup was an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote more than 45 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote under many pen-names including James Falconer, Aditya Jha, Jun Honda, Andrew James, Taeko Kawai, Felix Liston, Edward Raeburn, and Ivy B. Summerforest. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casey Sorrow</span> American cartoonist

Casey Sorrow is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and printmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothe Engelbretsdatter</span> Norwegian writer

Dorothe Engelbretsdatter was a Norwegian author. She principally wrote hymns and poems which were strongly religious. She has been described as Norway's first recognized female author as well as Norway's first feminist before feminism became a recognized concept.

Canongate Books is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catriona Sparks</span> Australian writer

Catriona (Cat) Sparks is an Australian science fiction writer, editor and publisher.

Monkey Day is an unofficial international holiday celebrated on December 14. The holiday was created and popularized in 2000 by artists Casey Sorrow and Eric Millikin when they were art students at Michigan State University. Monkey Day celebrates monkeys and "all things simian", including other non-human primates such as apes, tarsiers, and lemurs. Monkey Day is celebrated worldwide and often also known as World Monkey Day and International Monkey Day.

The Carl Hanser Verlag was founded in 1928 by Carl Hanser in Munich and is one of the few medium-sized publishing companies in the German-speaking area still owned by the founding family.

Nicolai Howalt is a Danish visual artist and contemporary photographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinco Puntos Press</span> American publishing company

Cinco Puntos Press is an imprint of publishing company Lee & Low Books. It is a general trade publisher that has received attention for its bilingual children's books and fiction and non-fiction focusing on the Mexico–United States border region. It was founded by novelist Lee Merrill Byrd and poet Bobby Byrd in 1985 and sold to Lee & Low in June 2021. It is known for its multi-cultural and political focus for both children and adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhard Jirgl</span> German writer (born 1953)

Reinhard Jirgl is a German writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Thorpe</span>

Nick Thorpe is a British journalist and documentary filmmaker who is the Central Europe Correspondent for BBC News, the main newsgathering department of the BBC, and its 24-hour television news channels BBC World News and BBC News Channel, as well as the BBC's domestic television and radio channels and the BBC World Service. He is based in Budapest and has over 30 years' experience of reporting for the BBC and United Kingdom newspapers, becoming BBC Budapest Correspondent in 1986. He became BBC Central Europe Correspondent in 1996.

Beatrice Lamwaka is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize for her story "Butterfly Dreams".

<i>Finns Hotel</i> Collection of narrative drafts by James Joyce

Finn's Hotel is a posthumously-published collection of ten short narrative pieces written by Irish author James Joyce. Written in 1923, the works were not published until 2013 by Ithys Press, who claimed the work to be a precursor to Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Wagner (poet)</span> German author and translator (born 1971)

Jan Wagner is a German poet, essayist and translator, recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize and Leipzig Book Fair Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karen Köhler</span> German writer, playwright and actor (born 1974)

Karen Köhler is a German writer, playwright and actor.

References

  1. "Copyright Status of Currently Unpublished Material", International James Joyce Foundation.
  2. 1 2 "James Joyce children's story The Cats of Copenhagen gets first publication", Ithys Press
  3. "Art Odyssey". ImagineFX (82): 22. May 2012.
  4. "Casey Sorrow and his Cats", Ithys Press
  5. "Michael Caine, book artist", Ithys Press
  6. "Christopher Rowlatt – taking the stylus for a walk", Ithys Press
  7. Alison Flood, "James Joyce children's story The Cats of Copenhagen gets first publication", The Guardian, 9 February 2012
  8. Sophie Douez, "New Joyce book creates controversy in Zurich", Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, 17 March 2012
  9. Florence Waters, "James Joyce's children's story sparks publishing row", The Telegraph, 10 February 2012
  10. "James Joyce children's book sparks feud", BBC News, 10 February 2012
  11. Deidre Wengen, "Publication of a James Joyce children's story causes controversy" Archived 21 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine , PhillyBurbs, 14 February 2012
  12. Terence Killeen, "Joyce children's story published in Dublin to dismay in Zürich", The Irish Times, 8 February 2012
  13. The Cats of Copenhagen, Simon & Schuster
  14. "I gatti di Copenhagen" Archived 2 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Giunti Editore
  15. "ΟΙ ΓΑΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΟΠΕΓΧΑΓΗΣ", Psichogios Publications
  16. "Københavnerkatte" Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Gyldendal
  17. "Mačke Kopenhagena" Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Edicije Božičević
  18. "Die Katzen von Kopenhagen - Bücher - Hanser Literaturverlage". Hanser-literaturverlage.de. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  19. "哥本哈根的貓", Chein Hsing Publishing
  20. "O kočkách a Kodani", Editorial Losada
  21. "De Katten Van Kopenhagen", Hoogland & Van Klaveren
  22. "O kočkách a Kodani", Albatros Media
  23. "Les chats de Copenhague" Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Grasset & Fasquelle
  24. "החתולים של קופנהגן", Achuzat Bayit Books