Fritz Senn’s Zürcher Festspielpreis: Zurich, Switzerland, 24 June 2014

When the Zurich Festival committee decided to honor Fritz Senn, it made an unusual move. In the past, the Festspielpreis has always gone to an artist: that is, someone who writes, dances, composes, or otherwise engages in the creation of artistic productions. Since its inception in 2007, the annual Zurich Festival has consisted of a month-long series of cultural events and a ceremony recognizing a distinguished individual’s artistic achievements. This time, the committee decided to give the festival prize to someone who was less a producer of art than one of its most treasured guardians and disseminators. As director of the Zurich James Joyce Foundation, Fritz is someone who brings art to the people, who makes Joyce’s works available and accessible (in every sense of the term) to the public. He ensures that inquisitive scholars are given access to the Foundation’s book and manuscript holdings and that novices as well as experts gain a deeper understanding of Joyce’s challenging prose.

The award ceremony, complete with speeches, performances, and apéro, took place on 24 June 2014 at the Theater Rigiblick, which is reached by a funicular that is subject to the little lurches and jolts reminiscent of a roller coaster’s warm-up efforts. It is a short walk from the funicular’s final stop to the theater, with its pavilion that overlooks the city below. Crowds of enthusiasts had already gathered around the sunny pavilion tables by the time I arrived with Sabrina Alonso, a new and welcome addition to the Zurich James Joyce Foundation’s staff. We checked in and made a mental note of the time when the gates would open, at which point we would be free to rush into the auditorium and procure the best seats. Fritz and the Foundation’s long-time curators, Ursula Zeller and Ruth Frehner, had arrived well in advance to prepare for their part in the ceremony and were secreted somewhere inside.

When the appointed hour came, we darted up the theater’s staircase and seized places in the second row—not bad, considering that almost every seat in the front row was reserved. Turning to the stage, we were greeted by a large projection of two familiar images: on the left, James Joyce, with his slicked-back hair and glasses; on the right, Fritz Senn, with his long white hair and sideburns. Both had their hair combed back, both held their heads at roughly the same angle, and both were wearing business suits, though Joyce was sporting a tie—the sort of accessory Fritz rigorously avoids (once an occasion demanded that he wear one, and I believe he still resents me for having taken a photograph: since those were my younger, more innocent days, I claim graduate-student immunity). On the screen, the narrow turquoise triangle slicing the air between Joyce and Fritz, in the manner of a subtle, yet electrifying, product logo, served less to divide than to unite them. Photographed and positioned as they were, they almost looked as if they were sitting across the table from each other, engaged in conversation.

Indeed, for Fritz, the conversation with Joyce has been virtually lifelong. His first dip into Ulysses took place in the 1950s, long before I was born and while my parents were still infants. For those of us in the younger generation of Joyceans, it is astounding to think that Fritz has been in dialogue with Joyce for two of our lifetimes.

With the images of Fritz and Joyce glowing in the background, Peter Weibel, President of the Festspiele Zurich, assumed the podium to welcome the packed auditorium. Community members, Joyceans, former scholars of the Foundation, reading-group members, Foundation staff members, city officials, translators, relatives, friends—all had gathered to witness the proceedings. An atmosphere of admiration and hushed anticipation pervaded the crowd as Ilma Rakusa, the writer and literary scholar, gave the laudation. In her speech, she highlighted Fritz’s accomplishments and his meticulous, enthusiastic method of approaching Joyce’s works. She explained how Fritz, less an “optimist” than a...