Interesting Interview: Anna Behrens

This week's Interesting Interview is with Anna Behrens, Sherlockian, Doylean, podcaster, author, editor, scion head, and all-around wearer of many hats!  I've been lucky enough to work with Anna as we are both officers of The Beacon Society, and she is one of those people who just immediately know you can rely on.  

As I learned more about her, it seems I'm not the only one out there who knows Anna is a stalwart in everything she does!  Anna is the head of the Monadnock Sherlockians and has shepherded their efforts into two anthologies (details below) as well as helped an entire town to celebrate Sherlock Holmes!  Her work has been in so many publications, that it would take another whole paragraph to include them all here.  So let's all get to know New Hampshire's hardest working Sherlockian, Anna Behrens!

How do you define the word “Sherlockian”? 

I refer to myself and to my scion members as Sherlockians, and I believe that term applies to anyone who has more than a passing interest in Sherlock Holmes, and spends time with the stories or adaptations on a regular basis. I also consider myself to be a Doylean, because on my journey into Sherlockiana, I developed a strong interest in Conan Doyle’s life and in his non-Sherlockian writings. I have written several articles including one on the relationship between Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling, as well as an article about Conan Doyle’s second wife Jean Leckie and her journey into becoming a Spiritualist Medium. 

How did you become a Sherlockian?

I came to be a Sherlockian rather late in life, in 2007 when I was in my 40s. This was when I met my late husband Richard, a would-be Sherlockian, who showed me the Granada Television adaptations with Jeremy Brett. I loved those from the first viewing, and then he suggested I read the canon. Richard and I took a lot of road trips visiting various historical and literary sites around New England so we listened to audio versions as well as radio plays of the stories during the long car rides. I had a lifelong interested in the Victorian era so I was hooked on Sherlock Holmes fairly quickly. 

Richard and I married in 2010, and a few years later we moved to Keene, NH from Doylestown, PA. We were interested in joining a Sherlockian group, but we did not find one close to Keene, so we started our own group, the Monadnock Sherlockians, named for our region of NH. We decided that the group would focus around reading the stories of the canon in order of publication. Sadly, Richard developed cancer and passed away in 2017. I was broken hearted, but the Monadnock Sherlockians were extremely helpful in giving me a focus in my time of grief. When COVID hit, I delved even deeper into the Sherlockian world by joining in so many zoom meetings of scions that I was eligible to become a member of the Legion of Zoom. I still miss Richard every day but I will be forever grateful to him for showing me the way into the Sherlockian world, and for so much else. 

What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist, and work in a public school servicing children with special needs. At school, I started a Sherlock Holmes group for Middle and High School students. I also use leveled Sherlock Holmes stories to help build language skills in my students with special needs. I am pleased that my work allows me to bring a bit of Holmes into it, however my school schedule keeps me from going to some of the Sherlockian events I would otherwise love to attend. 

What is your favorite canonical story?

This is a tough question. I have favorites for various reasons. I like "The Six Napoleons" for its quite original mystery, and I like "The Red Headed League" for its humor. I like "The Blue Carbuncle" as my go-to feel good holiday story. But I also appreciate "A Scandal in Bohemia," where Holmes is bested by a woman. I think this made the stories more accessible to women, where they could see in Irene Adler an unconventional but intelligent woman who outsmarts Sherlock Holmes, while protecting herself and maintaining her reputation in the constraining times in which she lived. 

Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?

There are so many truly interesting people, every Sherlockian has something unique to offer to the Sherlockian world. If I had to choose just one, I would choose one of my Sherlockian heroes, Rosemary Herbert, who I had the honor to meet in January. She is a gifted writer, poet, and editor who received her BSI investiture as "A Slim Youth in an Ulster." This name was likely chosen because, like Irene Adler who was that same slim youth, Rosemary donned male costume to attend the Speckled Band Dinner many years before they accepted women into their membership. She was later the first woman inducted into the Speckled Band of Boston. She is also a kind-hearted and interesting person who I have come to admire greatly in the short time I have known her.

What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you? 

I like the Arthur Conan Doyle Society where one can learn more about Conan Doyle’s life and non-Sherlockian works. Another area that I adore are the Sherlockian Podcasts. I listen to many of them faithfully, and support them on Patreon. I have learned so much from IHOSE, Trifles, and Doings of Doyle. I also enjoy the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes Podcast and have fun with the modernized stories in Sherlock and Co. Perhaps I especially like podcasts because I also have a podcast that I inherited from my husband and continue to produce, The Lizzie Borden Podcast. It is not Sherlockian per se, but we do have some cross over into Victorian America such as our interview with Sherlockian George Schwartz on the rise of Spiritualism in Victorian America. 

Many scions have been around for decades at this point, but The Monadnock Sherlockians are just a few years old and have already published two anthologies!  Can you tell us about the group and what sparked the idea to publish? 

The Monadnock Sherlockians celebrated our 8th year last December so we are a somewhat newer scion. My group is a creative one, composed of writers, artists, actors and even costumers.  I started collecting the poems and toasts made to the various characters written by members of my group. I also write Sherlockian essays that have appeared in various Sherlockian journals and books. When I collected enough pieces for a book, I decided to publish an anthology of our group’s writings. I included a short story written by my late husband, Richard Behrens, who was a writer in both fiction and non-fiction. He wrote a series of stories called Lizzie Borden, Girl Detective Mysteries. He often played homage to elements of the Sherlockian canon in his stories, so it feels appropriate to include one story in each anthology I publish. Richard and I published one of his novels together, The Minuscule Monk, where I did the illustrations in the book. To my delight, I had enough Sherlockian material to publish a second anthology in 2024. I hope to be able to continue to publish more every few years. 

As a former winner of The Beacon Award and current Secretary of The Beacon Society, you know the society pretty well.  What would you like other Sherlockians to know about it?

I was honored to receive the Susan Z. Diamond Beacon Award for my Sherlockian work with students at my school, and for my creation of  Sherlock Week in Keene, NH where we had week long series of events such as lectures, interactive films, plays, puppet show and a kids’ forensic lab. Through my experience as Percy Phelps, the secretary for the Beacon Society, I have marveled at the dedication of members who work very hard to create ways to bring Sherlock Holmes to children. One way they do this is to offer grant money to schools and libraries who want to purchase Sherlockian books or materials or put on Sherlockian community events. I certainly benefited from receiving such a grant for my Sherlock Week events. This grant money comes in large part from donations given by Sherlockians, so I would ask Sherlockians to keep the Beacon Society in their minds when making charitable donations.  

What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?

The book that I have recommended most to newer Sherlockians is Mattias Bostrom’s From Holmes to Sherlock. It is a book that really helped me understand the Sherlockian world, past and present.  I also recommend Daniel Stashower’s biography A Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle to those who are interested in learning more about Conan Doyle’s life. 

Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now? 

I think it will continue to evolve, sparking continued interest in both young and not-so-young so that it will be going strong 10 years from now and beyond.  There are so many aspects of Sherlockiana still to be discovered for most of us, including hidden gems of esoteric Sherlockian groups, and discovering them is certainly part of the fun.