How do you bid a final farewell to your parents? A son – a world-famous writer – accompanies his dying father, a passionate smoker and gardener, through his final months. Even gravely ill, he continues to sow and weed. His garden in a Bulgarian village outlives him. With this homage to his father, Georgi Gospodinov has written his most personal book – about a collapsing world, the solace of storytelling, and the first tulips in spring.
A cooperation with radio 3 by rbb and the literary podcast »Orte und Worte« [broadcast on 20.09.2025].
With Georgi Gospodinov
Moderated by Anne-Dore Krohn
Read by Barnaby Metschurat
Simultaneous translation by Harieta Braun and Milen Radev
The event will be held in Bulgarian with simultaneous translation into German.
»Gradinarjat i Smyrtta« was translated from Bulgarian into German by Alexander Sitzmann.