Miriam Gordon, the librarian at Allan Gardens Public Library, responds with great meticulousness to even the most bizarre book-search enquiries. She is required to keep a record of any unusual incidents that occur whilst she is on duty. And there is certainly no shortage of such unusual occurrences in this haven for loners, seekers and eccentrics.

Martha Baillie: Besondere Vorkommnisse – gelesen von Marina Frenk

The Budgie Man is just as much a harmless eccentric as the Lavender Lady, but there are also trying problem cases, as well as unsettling letters signed ‘Rigoletto’.

In between, there are accounts in which Miriam tells her own story. On a park bench, she meets Janko, an artist who reads and drives a taxi; she falls in love for the second time in her life and experiences a tender love story.

Everything in this novel seems to be connected in subtle ways, before Miriam’s next account of a particular incident raises new questions.

What really happens behind the library counter? More than you might think. Martha Baillie lets a librarian tell the story in 144 accounts – laconically, precisely and with quiet humour.

Annemarie Stoltenberg, NDR

Martha Baillie studied history, French and Russian in Edinburgh, Toronto and Paris, and has worked in theatre and as a French teacher. Her body of work includes novels, poetry and non-fiction, and has received numerous awards. *Special Occurrences* was adapted for the screen in 2024 and nominated for the Giller Prize, Canada’s most prestigious literary award.

Marina Frenk was born in Moldova in 1986 and has lived in Germany since 1993. She is an actress – having performed in Cologne, Bochum, at the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin and at the Hans Otto Theatre in Potsdam, amongst other places – as well as a musician and author. In 2016, she and Sibylle Berg jointly received the 65th War Blinds’ Radio Play Prize for *Und jetzt: die Welt!*.

Presenter: Lena Luczak, editor at Wagenbach Verlag

(in German)

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Accessibility

The event venue is accessible to people with disabilities. There is a lift.

Participating artists

Marina Frenk