Month: April 2024

The Thick of the Forest by Turku-based author Linnea Kuuluvainen, one of the strongest debuts of this year, has been off to a great start and has collected a glowing review on Helsingin Sanomat, the largest national newspaper.

Arla Kanerva, the reviewer on Helsingin Sanomat newspaper has commented as follows:

“Mankind destroys, and therefore mankind is destroyed. Linnea Kuuluvainen’s (b.1996) The Thick of the Forest brings a refreshing twist on a dystopia told many times over. […] the forest is a creature of its own, whose furious attack on Turku at the beginning of the book delights with the force of its cinematic perspective. The reasons for the rage of the forest are clear, and the author doesn’t attempt to iron out the centuries of man’s destructive actions. The Thick of the Forest does not preach, but rather researches the relationship between mankind and nature. There is also a delightful playfulness and the author’s joy in creating the world. The whirlwind of the author’s imagination shows the power of storytelling.“

The Thick of the Forest is set in a near future, nature has started fighting back against humanity, destroying the world as we know it. To escape nature’s vengeance and isolate themselves from it as well as they can, people have fled to small city-states surrounded by walls. One of them is the former city of Turku, where a tightly guarded Nation has been established. Ingrid grew up in this new world, and has lived all her life in the Nation. After her mother’s death, she gets a job with a research group called Wild Rosemary, whose task is to map the conditions outside the walls of the Nation. Although the forest has been pacified, it is still angry and dangerous, and soon there is discord among the researchers as well. 

The Thick of the Forest is an entrancing and linguistically captivating first novel about a forest that haunts people and two women, Edla and Ingrid, whose stories intersect. The result is a rich telling of the relationship between mankind and nature, and of how the lines dividing them become increasingly blurry in the depth of the forest. The book is published by Gummerus.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher, and way to go!

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!

The Princess Who Did a Runner has been sold to Greece, where it will be published by Ammos. The clever and funny picture book by Saara Kekäläinen and Netta Lehtola has already traveled to five territories and continues to grab attention from multiple areas.

The Princess Who Did a Runner by Saara Kekäläinen and Netta Lehtola is travelling to Greece, where it will be published by Ammos. The deal was negotiated for us by our co-agent Avgi at Ersilia Lit, and it marks the 6th language territory for this title.

In The Princess Who Did a Runner we follow Leona, who does a runner when she finds out she is expected to marry a prince to save the kingdom.

Leona jumps from one princess fairytale to the next in order to save herself from the age-old burdens of princesses that lurk around every corner – marriage and household chores. Along the way she meets many characters including a melancholic mirror, the species-changing Swanhilda, and princes with a penchant for glass shoes, menacing pouts, and rescue mission obsessions – not to mention seven adult men who are short of stature and don’t want to learn to clean and cook for themselves. The kind-hearted Leona helps everyone, but on her own terms. This princess refuses to be gentle, humble, and kind, just because that’s what’s expected of a fairytale princess! 

The Princess Who Did A Runner is a picture book full of sharp humour that will even offer big children and adults plenty of food for thought. It was nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award 2023.

Ammos is a publishing house that published children’s books from 1982 to 2003. In this period it influenced the childrens’ books publishing scene and left its mark as a quality publishing house that produced works of talented Greek and foreign creators. After a hiatus of 20 years they decided to re-enter the market to introduce distinguished books that hold a different esthetic and educational profile. Since re-entering the market, Ammos have become the Greek home of high-quality children’s literature from all over Europe, acquiring from, among others, L’ école des Loisirs (Loulou) and Topipittori (La Zuppa Lepron and Pieno Vuoto.)

Congratulations to the authors and the publisher!

The Skeleton by Malin Klingenberg and Maria Sann has been nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. It is a clever picture book on overcoming fears, growing up, and getting better after an injury. The title has already been sold to three territories.

The Skeleton by Malin Klingenberg and Maria Sann has been nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize: it tells the story of Teo, a young boy who is very afraid of skeletons and runs into one at a Halloween party. As a result, he runs in the opposite direction and falls, only to end up in hospital with a broken bone and the horrible news that there is a skeleton inside of him too.

It is the premise of a witty, funny story about overcoming fears, growing up, and recovering from injuries. The jury has stated as follows:

“Malin Klingenberg’s and Maria Sann’s picture book Skelettet (“The Skeleton”, not translated into English) is told from a supportive and sympathetic child’s perspective throughout. Teo struggles with understanding the skeleton as both reality and metaphor, as something that exists both outside and within himself. Based on his own imagination and in play, he tackles the existential questions these skeletons raise. The theme and the drama are firmly anchored in Teo’s view of life, and thus portray a child’s ability to understand and create meaning in life in their own way: “I wonder if my skeleton likes being in my body? I wonder if my skeleton also gets sweaty when I run? I wonder if my skeleton dreams of being able to scare people at an amusement park? I wonder if my skeleton will miss me when I die?

Klingenberg’s concise text and dynamic dialogue are surrounded by Sann’s thoughtful imagery. On the effectively blackened cover, Teo stands eye to eye with a grinning (or friendly smiling?) skeleton which is covered in phosphorescent paint and so glows in the dark. Darkness returns in the form of well-judged spreads where dark and light combine to create a fascinating X-ray effect, such as when Teo’s mother holds up her hand against the bedside lamp to show him that she also has a skeleton inside her. Sann seamlessly makes a picture book from the story by surprising readers with varied spreads, unexpected perspectives, and responsiveness to how the sensitive boy protagonist is portrayed. 

Skelettet is a seemingly simple picture book with the ability to evolve with repeated reading. Klingenberg and Sann handle the story’s existential themes with finesse. In a touching and child-friendly way, seriousness is interspersed with warm and playful comedy. As the cover of the picture book shows, we all carry a potential “monster” within us. Or at least a skeleton of our own that we can embrace and become friends with.”

Malin Klingenberg is an established Swedish-speaking Finnish authors, whose work has travelled to several territories. Illustrator Maria Sann made her debut in 2019 and has been receiving glowing reviews for her work since. This is their second collaboration.

The Skeleton has been sold for Latvian, Korean and World Dutch, and it is published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.

Congratulations to the authors and the publishers, and fingers crossed!

Juhani Karila‘s continues to make waves in the English-speaking world: the author of international bestseller Fishing For The Little Pike is joining the World Literature Festival panel dedicated to speculative fiction, at the NY Public City Library on April 23rd.

Also joining the panel are Danish author Olga Ravn and Japanese author Maru Ayase, and moderating the panel is Farhan Islam, the pen behind the Speculative Fiction in Translation Booklist published by the New York Public Library.

Fishing For the Little Pike (Siltala, 2019) follows young Elina as she returns to her home village in Lapland with a specific mission in mind: fishing for a little pike that resides in a pond. She has three days to fish it, or she and her childhood lover will both die, victims to a curse. This year, however, fate has gotten in the way in the form of a supernatural creature taking residence in the pond, and in that of a police officer looking for Elina on the suspicion of murder. Fishing For the Little Pike was an instant hit upon its release, and it has so far travelled to 17 language territories. In the English-speaking world it has been gathering excellent reviews and extensive coverage, and it has recently received an honourable mention for the Crawford Award and is running for the Forewords Indie Books of the Year Award.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers, and don’t miss out on this title!