Born in Surrey, England, in 1882 Frank Budgen worked, among other things, as a merchant seaman before going to Paris to study art in 1910. While working at the British Consul in Zurich in 1918, Budgen met Joyce for the first time and, over the next year, they spent a lot of time together, drinking and discussing ideas for Ulysses. Joyce found these exchanges with Budgen so important that, when he returned to Trieste in 1919, he even offered to pay Budgen to come and live there so their collaboration could continue. During their time together, Budgen was able to observe Joyce’s work on Ulysses and in 1934 he published his book, James Joyce and the Making of Ulysses, which, in addition to being an account of Ulysses, gives a great deal of first-hand insight into Joyce’s writing process.

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