Author: Chiara Stanziani

Wonderful news for Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen: this world-class debut, that has already travelled to 28 foreign language territories, has been crowned as The Bookseller’s Fiction Book of the Month in a feature penned by Lauren Brown.

The feature states that Beasts of the Sea is a “literary phenomenon in its home country of Finland, with the first print run selling out within a week of publication”.

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. 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 is the winner of the Book Beat Newcomer Award, The Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, the best debut award, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, the Storytel award. Beasts of the Sea was also a nominee for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, as well as for the Torch-bearer Prize.

In Finland, Beasts of the Sea is published by Kustantamo S&S, part of Schildts & Söderströms. Loved by readers and critics alike, Beasts of the Sea has also been crowned the Best Book of the Century in a Readers’ Selection list published by the largest Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat. The foreign editions are out with prominent international publishers, including Fischer in Germany, Flammarion in France, Neri Pozza in Italy, and De Geus in the Netherlands. The English edition will be out with Little, Brown in the US and with MacLehose Press in the UK after the summer.

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 and the publishers!

North Audio Publishing has secured the Danish and Dutch digital rights to the Maja from Stormskär series by Anni Blomqvist in a double five-book deal.

The Maja from Stormskär series by Anni Blomqvist continues its journey out into the world: North Audio Publishing has acquired the Danish and Dutch rights, marking four foreign language territories for this series.

The Maja from Stormskär series follows Maja, a young girl from the Åland archipelago, for over 50 years. Her life is forever changed when Janne, a fisherman’s son, asks for her hand in marriage despite barely knowing her. Young Maja is set to start a new life on the remote Stormskerry and grows into a strong woman capable of dealing with both the good and the bad that life throws at her. A coming-of-age story, a portrayal of wild nature and hard work, and a love story beautifully weaved together, the series consists of five volumes.

The Maja from Stormskär series, originally published between 1968 and 1973, is an established Swedish-language modern classic. It rose to new fame in 2024, when it was adapted into a spectacularly successful movie with the same name which became the most watched movie of the year in the Nordics. The new edition, out with Schildts & Söderströms, was a hit and sold almost 10.000 copies in less than a year. The series has already been sold to Estonia, and the French rights were pre-empted by HarperCollins in a five-book deal.

Anni Blomqvist (1909–1990) was born on Vårdö, northeast of the Isle of Åland, where she lived her entire life. She debuted in 1966 and after the success with the books about Maja from Stormskär (1968-1973) Blomqvist wrote several critically acclaimed novels and an autobiographical work about life in the archipelago, past and present.

North Audio Publishing is a Denmark-based publishing house owned by Danish JP Politiken and Swedish Bokförlaget Polaris. They specialise in digital and audio books, and are the home of a multitude of successful series , bringing readers across multiple territories high-quality audio content.

Congratulations to the publishers!

Cappelen Damm has acquired the Norwegian rights to The Mystery of Raspberry Hill by Eva Frantz.

The Mystery of Raspberry Hill by Eva Frantz continues its journey out into the world and is now travelling to Norway, where it will be published by Cappelen Damm, Norway’s largest publishing house.

The book follows Stina, a young girl who is sent to the sanatorium of Raspberry Hill to cure her illness. Raspberry Hill is in the middle of the healing countryside, where city dwellers with lung diseases end up. Many of the child patients treated there are from poor families – like Stina. The sanatorium feels like a castle to Stina. It is vast and full of long corridors and echoes. It is also a very lonely place, until one day Stina meets Ruben. The boy starts turning up when they should be sleeping, taking her on nightly expeditions to forbidden parts of the building – like the eastern wing, which has recently burned down.

Little by little Stina starts to realize that everything is not quite right in the sanatorium. Why isn’t her mother writing back to her? Why do the nurses seem so afraid? What really happened in the fire? And what is Ruben trying to warn her about?

The Mystery of Raspberry Hill is crime author Eva Frantz’s first children’s book – a suspenseful horror story for middle grade readers. It starts a series of stand-alone horror novels set in early 20th century that take their young readers on a journey back in time. The book was awarded the Runeberg Junior Prize in 2019, and has already travelled to eight language territories.

Warm congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Les Léonides has acquired the World French rights to Matara by Matias Riikonen.

Wonderful news: Les Léonides has acquired the World French rights to Matara by Matias Riikonen, marking the fourth foreign deal for this title.

Matara is the story of boys who spend their summers building realms of their own. Senators scheme in togas made of sheets, mannequins make for wives, and the Republic of Matara is run like any other state: it has laws, traditions, and faces conflicts.

Matias Riikonen’s fourth novel takes children seriously in a way few other works have. In Riikonen’s hands, the birdsong-filled woods of early summer and the boys’ violence and tenderness meld into superb, startling literature. At times one forgets one is reading a portrayal of boys at play; at others, one fears one is reading a description of reality. Matara was a success in Finland, where it won the Torch-Bearer Prize and the Jarkko Laine Award, and was nominated for both the Runeberg and the Finlandia Prize, the two largest awards on a national level. The German edition, out with Karl Rauch Verlag, has also been a critical success.

Les Léonides is a newly founded and ambitious publisher based in Paris, part of the Les Nouveaux Éditeurs publishing group. The group, founded in 2024 by former chairman of Hachette Livre Arnaud Nourry, gathers independent French publishers. Les Léonides is helmed by Dana Burlac, the former literary director of éditions de L’Observatoire, and their list includes French authors Marie Charrel, Pauline Gonthier, Guillaume Perilhou, Claire Deya, Anaïs LLobet, Emilie Houssa, Jean-Michel Fortier, and more. Their translated titles include works by authors like Elain Vilar Madruga, Elin Cullhed, Anneli Jordahl, Sacha Bonet, and Joe Westmoreland.

In Finland, Matara is published by Teos.

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

The German rights to the A Dog Called Cat series by Tomi Kontio & Elina Warsta (ill.) have been acquired in a five-book deal by Jupitermond Verlag. This is the 11th foreign language territory for the series.

A Dog Called Cat is continuing its journey out into the world: Jupitermond has acquired the German rights to the series by Tomi Kontio and Elina Warsta (ill.) in a five-book deal, marking the 11th foreign language territory for the series.

The A Dog Called Cat series follows a dog who has been named Cat by his mother to prepare him for a life on independence. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way independence has turned into loneliness, and Cat is about to lose hope when he finally meets a true friend in Weasel, a homeless man who becomes his best friend and life companion. The duo is soon joined by a cat called Dog, and the three friends share a life of heart-warming adventures that explore tough social themes while proving that happiness and a sense of belonging can be found even for those with a harder lot in life.

In A Dog Called Cat and the Last Arctic Fox (2024), Dog, Cat, and Weasel travel to the Finnish Lapland along with their new friend Tiger. On the beautiful nature adventure, the group saves an Arctic fox and once again confirms the importance of friendship and belonging.

The series began with A Dog Called Cat, then followed by A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat (2019), A Dog Called Cat Looking for Home (2020), and A Dog Called Cat and the Wonder of Christmas (2021). In Finland the series is published by Teos.

Jupitermond Verlag is a Germany-based publishing house founded in 2020 with the goal of combining high-quality children’s books and a social mission to touch on sensitive themes and subject in a delicate and inclusive way. Their books deal with inclusion, diversity, bullying, and ecology.

Warm congratulations to the publishers, and don’t miss out on this series!