Juhani Karila’s hilarious novel Fishing for the Little Pike won the Jarkko Laine Literature Prize!
According to the jury, the novel, set in the Finnish Lapland, is “magic realism at its best” and “is exceptionally fresh in drawing its power from folk beliefs”.
“The book, full of original characters, is as entertaining as a picaresque novel, with a masterfully entwined murder mystery. The hilarious storytelling only emphasises the serious topics instead of hiding them: a human relation with nature, searching for self, the feelings of guilt and love.“
Jarkko Laine Literature Prize is given every second year to the most extraordinary and challenging fiction work published in the last three calendar years. The prize is 10,000 euros.
Karila’s novel has been so far sold to Canada (World French), Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Poland, and running the third print in Finland. It also won The Kalevi Jäntti’s Literature Prize and Tähtifantasia Literature Prize earlier this year.
Congratulations to the author!