Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen has been nominated for the European Literature Prize in the Netherlands.
Wonderful news: the literary phenomenon Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen is running for the European Literature Prize in Dutch translation by Annemarie Raas.
Beasts of the Sea is a literary achievement and a breathtaking adventure through three centuries that approaches natural diversity through individual destinies. Steller’s sea cow, a sirenian lost to extinction centuries ago, is revived on the pages and is the red thread that ties together the individual fates of a group of people throughout the centuries. The novel won multiple awards, and was nominated for the Finlandia Prize domestically, and ran as the Best Foreign Book of the Year in France in 2024, and for the Premio Strega in Italy earlier this year. In Finland Beasts of the Sea is published by Kustantamo S&S. In December 2025, Beasts of the Sea was chosen as Stephen Colbert’s Late Show Book Club book of the month. The book, sold to 29 language areas, is already out in several languages. The Hungarian edition came out recently and scored a glowing review and feature on Telex, a major independent news portal in Hungary.
he European Literature Prize is an initiative of the Dutch Foundation for Literature, Academic-Cultural Centre SPUI25 , weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer and Athenaeum | Scheltema, with financial contribution by the Dutch Foundation for Literature. The shortlist will be published in June.
Warm congratulations to the author, the publishers, and the translator – fingers crossed!