This year’s Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, has been awarded to Iida Turpeinen for her sensationally successful debut Beasts of the Sea. Beasts of the Sea has already traveled to 22 territories, and we currently have more offers on the table.
This year’s Thanks for the Book Award has been awarded to Iida Turpeinen for her novel Beasts of the Sea. The award is a recognition from booksellers and professionals of the book industry to an author whose work, published in the previous year, is considered particularly insightful and inspiring. The award ceremony is traditionally on April 23rd, the Book and Rose Day, which marks a day of celebration for booksellers and librarians nationally.
The head of the jury, Marjo Tuomikoski, chairwoman of the Union of Booksellers, has stated that “Beasts of the Sea is stunning and beautiful, fantastically woven telling of people who find themselves in front of something wonderful, that they can’t deal with, nor do they really understand how valuable that wonderful thing was until it’s too late. Mankind’s role in extinction and biodiversity loss is heartbreaking, and a sadly relevant book works as an inspiring conversation prompt”.
The jury has also underlined the research done by the author and the exceptional mix of literature and natural sciences:
“The research done by Turpeinen for many years, and her bringing back to life historical individuals and events through literature is breathtakingly beautiful. The book has awakened enthusiasm for both literature and natural sciences even in the people who read less, because the work combines by means of literature science and scientific research in a compact, entertaining ensemble”.
Thanks for the book is a Finnish literary award that the Union of Booksellers and the Finnish library association have awarded since year 1966 on a yearly basis to a domestic author whose work has stunned the literary scene. The Day of the Book and the Rose, on which the award is given, aims at fostering reading and appreciating authors and their work.
Beasts of the Sea is a literary achievement and a breathtaking adventure through three centuries. Approaching natural diversity through individual destinies, it’s a story of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what humankind in its ignorance has destroyed.
The novel is the winner of the best debut award, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, and a nominee for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, as well as for the Torch-bearer Prize. Its international breakthrough has been acknowledged for example by the Bookseller.
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.
Warmest congratulations to the author!