Fantastic news from the Turku Book Fair: Matara by Matias Riikonen has been awarded the Jarkko Laine prize.
The jury has motivated their choice as follows:
“In Matara by Matias Riikonen boys under the age of 15 spend long summer days in a present-day forest in Finland, where they have built the republic of Matara. The state, which strongly reminds of Ancient Rome, is built on rules, hierarchies and systems which are portrayed with startling intensity. In this violent world rules are followed even when it comes to fighting and on the side of struggles for power loyalty, friendship, fun and games emerge. The detailed description of the boys’ world, the precision of their observations, the flow of the story and the emotional thrill are successfully realized in Riikonen’s striking prose”.
Matara has already been acquired in Denmark and Hungary, and for World French and German, and it has been previously awarded the Torch-Bearer prize.
In Finland the book is published by Teos.
Warmest congratulations to the author!