News

Fantastic news for our author Niillas Holmberg: he has been awarded the Eino Leino Prize 2023.

The Eino Leino Prize, established in 1956, is a yearly prize awarded to top-notch writers with a specific focus on poetry. The jury has chosen Holmberg as this year’s winner for his merits as multilingual poet and political activist:

“Niillas Holmberg keeps his native language alive and contributes to its growth. He writes about nature and globalization with great insight, describing things that no other language has words for. His multilingualism is for him an advantage and it enriches both of the languages he uses“.

Holmberg’s engagement in political and environmental questions is also praised as an example of art being at the service of activism without being dependent on it: Holmberg’s love for his home landscapes shines through in a way that captures the reader.

Niillas Holmberg is a Sami author, poet, musician, actor, and cultural and environmental activist living in his native Utsjoki, in Lapland. His works have been praised for their multilingualism, originality and their portrayal of Sami culture.

Underfoot, his collection of poems that explores the connection between people and earth, was praised both in Finland and abroad, and has been sold to Estonia and Germany.

Halla Helle, his debut novel, portrays a young man from Southern Finland, Samu, and his fascination with Elle, a Lappish artist, that prompts him to travel to Lapland. The book has been praised for its compelling style and it is also the first novel published in decades that is written by a Sámi author dealing with Sámi identity and culture. The rights have been sold to France, where it will be published by Éditions du Seuil.

Warm congratulations to the author!

Fantastic news for our children’s list: A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large has been sold to Poland, where it will be published by Dwie Siostry, a highly acclaimed Warsaw-based publishing house specialised in high-quality children’s literature.

This is the 14th foreign sale for the title: this stunning story by Amanda & Sofia Chanfreau, where magical realism meets the quest after one’s own origins has been enchanting publishers all over the world since its release and, on top of having sold over 10.000 copies in Finland, it has also won the most important literary award in the country, the Finlandia Junior Prize, in 2022 and is currently nominated for the Nordic Council Children’s and Young People’s Literature Prize.

This illustrated novel for middle grade readers is a tale of longing to be part of a family, to find one’s place in the world, and to be loved as one is. 

Whenever ten-year-old Vega, who has always lived with her father, tries to ask about her mother, the only answer she gets is mysteries. Once a not-so-nice girlfriend starts dating her father, and Vega gets an unexpected pen pal, she decides to set out on an adventure to find out more about her mother. The book is a superb read for a child alone or for parents and children together.

In Finland, the Chanfreau sisters are also published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Warm congratulations to the authors, and don’t miss out on this wonderful title!

Another accolade for several HLA authors: Me naiset, the leading women’s magazine in Finland, published in early June a list of “New Classics” – books produced in the last 15 years that left a mark in the Finnish literary landscape.

Pirkko Saisio’s Helsinki trilogy – Lowest Common Multiple; Backlight; and The Red Book of Farewells – is praised for the “wonderful portrayal of how an individual looks at their own past and at the history of their community”. On Saisio’s style, the article goes on to state that “As a story-teller Saisio is in the same league as Nobelist Annie Ernaux“.

Iida Rauma’s Destruction is featured for its narration of bullying and violence among young people and the scars these events leave on adults. On her style, the article comments that Rauma “doesn’t lecture, but makes readers think”.

Juhani Karila’s Fishing for the Little Pike is also on the list, described as both a “traditional and modern” work of art. 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband, by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola is also praised for its modernity, which combines stylistic experimentations with a surprisingly successful mix of tragedy and fun.

Minna Rytisalo’s Lempi, a gorgeous story of love and jealousy set in Northern Finland in times of war also makes the list, and so does Ulla-Leena Lindberg‘s Ice, a touching family saga, praised for its historical portrait of Finland.

Fantastic news for our authors: Ann-Christin Antell’s Cotton Mill Trilogy, Susanna Hast’s Body of Evidence and Marja Kyllönen’s The Undeparted are at the top of FILI’s Book Picks 2023 for adult fiction! Many other HLA authors, including Merja Mäki’s and her novel Before the Birds, also made the list.

For children’s titles, our beloved A Giraffe’s Heart is Unbelievably Large by Amanda & Sofia Chanfreau tops the list, tightly followed by the endearing and successful YA novel We’ll Just Ride Past, by Ellen Strömberg.

This comes at a great time for all these titles: the Cotton Mill Trilogy, a historical romance about three generations of women and their family business, has recently made its 5th foreign sale, and Hast’s Body of Evidence, a startling work of autotheory, has received wide accolade and won the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize.

Marja Kyllönen’s The Undeparted, a dark twist on the story of a childless couple, has been awarded the Runeberg Prize, and Merja Mäki’s Before the Birds, a gorgeous story of struggle and hope set in the time of World War II, has been sold to France and Sweden and has been awarded the Torch-Bearer Prize.

A Giraffe’s Heart is Unbelievably Large by Sofia & Amanda Chanfreau has been wildly successful: a Finlandia Junior winner in 2022, its foreign rights have been sold to 14 territories and has received raving reviews. In theYA category, We’ll Just Ride Past, by Ellen Strömberg has been nominated for the 2023 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize and has recently been sold to both Italy and Korea.

Warm congratulations to the authors, and don’t miss out on these titles!

As of September 2023, Viivi Arela will assume the role of CEO at Helsinki Literary Agency, which has built a top-notch catalog of international-caliber literature over the past six years.

Helsinki Literary Agency (HLA) will have a new CEO starting on September 1, 2023, when Viivi Arela assumes the role. Arela has worked for HLA as a literary agent since July 2020.

Urpu Strellman, who has led HLA since its founding in 2017, will shift her focus to author relations, catalog development, and generating and strengthening international contacts.

“In the space of a little over six years, Helsinki Literary Agency has grown into an agency that attracts Finnish authors interested in the global market and whom foreign publishers turn to when they’re interested in Finnish literature,” Strellman says. “At this juncture, it’s vital to ensure the skills of every employee be put to the best possible use.”

“The agency is at an interesting stage in its growth; it has a superb catalog and good networks. I’m eager for the opportunity to further develop operations and continue to promote Finnish literature in export,” Arela says.

Anna Baijars, CEO of Gummerus Publishers and chair of the HLA board, notes: “HLA’s operations have expanded significantly, to the point where a reorganization of roles is necessary to reach our new goals. Viivi Arela’s ambitious and entrepreneurial approach will serve the agency well as she helms it into its next stage.”

Arela has previous experience as an entrepreneur and in sales and marketing in the culture sector.

Urtė Liepuoniūtė, who has been a literary agent with HLA since 2019, will take on a new role on June 30, focusing exclusively on HLA’s English-language literature podcast Literature from Finland. The podcast, which Liepuoniūtė has produced and hosted since 2020, has found popularity both internationally and domestically, and plans for new audiovisual content on Finnish literature are in the works.

Additionally, two new team members, literary agent Chiara Stanziani and assistant Anastasia Basova,joined HLA in spring 2023.

Helsinki Literary Agency is a literary agency jointly owned by the publishing houses Gummerus, Schildts & Söderströms, Siltala, and Teos. It counts eleven Finlandia Prize winners and five Finlandia Junior Prize winners among the authors it represents.

More Information:

Urpu Strellman, CEO | urpu@helsinkiagency.fi | +358 40 737 5535
Viivi Arela, literary agent | viivi@helsinkiagency.fi | +358 40 838 5376
Anna Baijars, chair of the HLA board | anna.baijars@gummerus.fi | +358 40 584 0061