News

The biggest literary phenomenon from Finland this year, Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea, has been gotten its third pre-empt in less than two weeks, now in Denmark by People’s.

With the Danish deal, Beasts of the Sea has traveled so far to five areas: Germany, where it was pre-empted by Fischer; Italy, pre-empted by Neri Pozza; Estonia, acquired by Tänapäev; and Hungary, acquired by Polar. There are offers on the table from France.

“Beasts of the Sea is a wonderful book – poetical, raw, timely and no doubt the first of many great books to come from Iida Turpeinen,” said Christel Hvalsøe Brinkløv, the senior acquiring editor of People’s. A part of the Storytel family, People’s is the publisher of such authors as Joël Dicker, Lisa Taddeo, Fredrik Backman, Neil Gaiman and from Finland, Ann-Christin Antell.

With a third edition on its way in just four weeks time since first publication, Beasts of the Sea is also writing history for the Finnish foreign rights sales: never before has a Finnish literary debut broken out to the world with five-figure deals and a row of pre-empts.

Iida Turpeinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based literary scholar currently writing a dissertation on the intersection of the natural sciences and literature. As an author, she is intrigued by the literary potentials of scientific research and by the offbeat anecdotes and meanderings from the history of science.

The triumph of this autumn’s hottest Finnish title, Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea continues to Hungary and towards France.

Pre-empted in Germany by Fischer on the eve of the Gothenburg fair and at the end of last week by Neri Pozza in Italy, Beasts of the Sea has been acquired in Hungary by Polar, a publishing house with a remarkable list of Scandinavian literary fiction. In addition to a significant number of Finnish authors, including the author of the Helsinki Trilogy, Pirkko Saisio, Polar publishes such authors as Karen Blixen, Vigdis Hjort, and August Strindberg.

In addition to finding a home in Hungary, Beasts of the Sea is headed towards France, where there are now offers on the table, with a deadline for first offers next Monday. The French rights are handled by Anna Lindblom from the Nordik Agency.

With a lot of excitement in other areas as well, there are bound to be some more news to expect prior to the Frankfurt fair, as the journey of the wonderful, strange sea mammal, the Steller’s sea cow, is just beginning!

The “world-class” novel – bound together by the story of the extinct sea cows – was pre-empted in Germany by Fischer on the eve of the Gothenburg fair. Now, the novel has landed in Italy with Neri Pozza. In Hungary, there is an offer on the table.

Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea, described by the biggest Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat as “world-class novel”, has been sold in Italy to Neri Pozza. Neri Pozza has become known as the publisher of such authors as Peter Ackroyd, Tracy Chevalier, Patrick deWitt, Herman Koch, Julian Fellows, Ben Lerner, and Edward St. Aubyn.

The rave reviews and the success of the novel, sold out in during its first week in Finland, has attracted a lot of attention in all areas. Just a bit over a week ago, the novel was pre-empted in Germany by Fischer. For a Finnish debut, these very nice pre-emptive offers from big market areas mark a rare occasion.

“Science-fueled Beasts of the Sea makes the ecological ruptures and freefall of the entire world a palpable experience. (…) Turpeinen paints this contradiction [species becoming extinct while people are blissfully ignorant it is their doing] through characters based primarily on real-life figures and a few imagined ones, reaching the level of the best suspense stories and bitterest tragedies. This is a work that will move you and have you holding your breath.”
– Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

In Estonia, the novel will be published by Tänapäev. For Hungary and other areas, more news to follow soon!

Sanna Pelliccioni has been awarded the Plaque Award by Biennal of Illustrations Bratislava for her illustrations in children’s picture book Sent Across The Sea.

The international jury has chosen Sanna Pelliccioni’s illustrations to Sent Across the Sea as the winner of the Plaque Award. The jury emphasizes the tender, nuanced illustrations that transmit the feeling to the reader. “Pelliccioni’s delicate, mostly rosy and light blue colouring makes the book an artistic whole with its own aesthetics.”

Pelliccioni’s award is the first one granted to a Finnish illustrator by The Biennal of Illustrations Bratislava (BIB) in 35 years. The Bratislava Biennal is the largest exhibition and competition of illustrations in the whole of Europe, and it is organized by IBBY, the International Board of Books for Young People.

The book, written by author Eppu Nuotio, follows Heidi, who must leave home and travel far across the sea to be safe from the war. In the new country Heidi is separated from her brother and ends up living with a grumpy couple. Heidi can’t understand the language of her new aunt and uncle, but she does understand they’d want her to act differently.

Luckily, Heidi gets to spend a day with her brother and his family, and the brother immediately understands that Heidi needs to find a nicer auntie.

Based on real memories, Sent across the Sea is a story of an often-forgotten period in Finnish history: Around 80,000 children were evacuated from Finland during the Second World War, mainly to Sweden. Most of them returned home, but more than 15‚000 did not. In a Europe at war, their story resonates again.

Several HLA authors are currently invited at the Bratislava Biennale Of Illustrations, an event for illustrations from all over the world in the Slovakian capital. You can read more about the event here.

Our authors and illustrators Maija Hurme, Sanna Pelliccioni, Hannamari Ruohonen, Ilja Karsikas, Anne Vasko and Maria Sann are participating and we wish them the very best of luck!