Author: Chiara Stanziani

Mark your calendars: Ellen Strömberg, author of YA success We’ll Just Ride Past, will be in conversation with the Anglo-Swedish society on September 18th (18:00-19:15 London time)!

Ellen Strömberg is one of Finland’s most prominent YA voices: her novel We’ll Just Ride Past won her the August Prize, the most prestigious literary award for a work written in Swedish, a nomination for the Finlandia Junior Prize, Finland’s most prestigious literary award, wide critical acclaim and an audience of enthusiastic readers. The novel is also gaining international success, as it has already travelled to 6 foreign language territories.

On Thursday September 18th (18:00-19:15 London time) Strömberg will be in online conversation with the Anglo-Swedish society, a non-profit organization primarily based in London that aims to foster cultural exchange between Britain and Sweden and the Swedish-speaking communities. You can find more details about the event and sign up to take part here.

We’ll Just Ride Past follows Manda and Malin, a duo of best friends in ninth grade. They are nicknamed The Bicycles as they cycle everywhere looking for fun and something to do in a small town where nothing ever happens. One day Malin develops a crush on a guy working at the local pizzeria, and a series on events – both fun and not so fun – begins to unfold. We’ll Just Ride Past is an accurate portrayal of a moment in life where it’s perfectly normal to change style and music taste every week and the world awaits. In Finland, the title it is published by S&S.

Ellen Strömberg is a Swedish-speaking Finnish author whose production ranges from picture books to novels. We’ll Just Ride Past was a domestic and international success and her latest YA novel No Beginning No End has been received with warm praise. It is the story of Benjamin, a shy teenage boy dealing with his mother’s death, as he grows close with Tristan, a mysterious boy.

Don’t miss out on this event!

The Slovenian edition of Radio Popov by Anja Portin has received the Golden Pear Label for excellent children’s books.

More wonderful news for Radio Popov by Anja Portin, a long-standing success in children’s literature: the Slovenian edition, in translation by Julija Potrč Šavli and published by KUD Sodobnost, has received the Golden Pear Label for excellent children’s books.

Every year, a selection of 100 children’s titles across four categories receive the Golden Pear Label for excellent children’s book, an actual label in the form of a sticker placed on the books to boost their visibility in libraries and bookshops. From this list, a jury then selects the winners of the Golden Pear Award during the Ljubljana Book Fair, in November.

Radio Popov is one of the most successful children’s books of the last decade: it won the Finlandia Prize upon its release, and has already travelled to 27 language territories. It follows Alfred, a nine-year-old boy who lives practically alone. His mother is not in the picture and his father is constantly busy with work and business trips. During one of these business trips Alfred is left alone for so long he runs out of food, and electricity is cut off.

When everything seems lost, Alfred is saved by a mysterious stranger who delivers food and woollen socks in lonely children’s letterboxes. It is the beginning of a wonderful adventure that will lead Alfred to a new family, and to saving more forgotten children. Alfred’s story is moving, and touches on social issues, but also contains joy, friendship, and a happy ending.

Anja Portin has quickly become a favourite among children’s authors with her middle grade novel Radio Popov. She writes about children who take matters into their own hands when grownups do not want to take responsibility or are not there to do it. Her latest novel is The Book of Misty Trees, also for a middle-grade audience. In Finland, her works are published by S&S.

Warm congratulations to the author, the translator, and the publisher!

Psichogios has secured the Greek rights to The Hues series by Vuokko Hurme in a two-book deal, marking the second foreign deal for this series.

The Hues series by Vuokko Hurme is travelling to Greece, where Psichogios has secured the rights to the first two books of the series. This is the second foreign deal for the series, whose first book Ruby’s Secret is already out in Italian with Mimebù.

The Hues are a family where each member is able to control the colours of their own possessions, and can handle them and move them about by willpower. Ruby’s colour is red and her big sister Skye’s is blue, while their little brother Forrest is still looking for his colour. When the Hues, hiding their secret skills, move once again, something changes: Ruby no longer wants to be an eternal outsider – no matter the cost. So begins the series, which follows the members of the Hues family as they each find their colour, and their place in the world. Pitched as The Incredibles meets Inside Out, The Hues series is a colourful series about friendship, otherness, and living an ordinary life with extraordinary powers.

Vuokko Hurme (b. 1979) is a children’s author based in Helsinki whose output includes nonfiction, novels and picture books for children. Her children’s books are published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.

Psichogios is a Greek publishing house with a broad selection of domestic and international fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. They are the Greek home of, among others, John Green, Percival Everett, Roald Dahl, and Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Whimpy Kid series.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

The Helsinki Art Hall is hosting the Kollektivet exhibition, a collection of illustrations from Finnish children’s books penned by dozens of the most prominent and most-loved Finnish illustrators, and illustrations by several HLA illustrators have made the list.

The works of Maija Hurme, Sanna Pelliccioni, and Maria Sann are on display in a stunning selection of illustrations in enlarged and life-sized formats.

Maija Hurme is participating in the exhibition with illustrations from her latest work. Previously, her book Shadowed (2018) was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize. Her Secret Gardeners, co-authored with Lina Laurent was recently published in English by Canadian Pajama Press.

Maria Sann’s illustrations on display are taken from The Skeleton, the book she co-authored with Malin Klingenberg, about a child who is afraid of skeletons and is horrified to find out we all have one. The Skeleton has enjoyed a warm success both domestically and internationally: it was nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize in 2024, and has already travelled to four foreign language territories.

Sanna Pelliccioni is in the spotlight with Free, the book she co-authored with Eppu Nuotio, about peaceful protests, civic activism, and non-violent resistance from a child’s world perspective, with history as its background. Sanna Pelliccioni is an established illustrator in Finland, and her Forest Field Notes, which she co-authored with Johanna Venho, is about the hit the shelves in New Zealand.

Linda Bondestam, an established award-winning illustrator, who is on HLA’s list with her illustrations for The Fantastickle Friend, penned by Alexandra Salmela, is also part of the exhibition with the illustrations for her latest work.

The exhibition has been a hit with adults and children alike, and has made headlines on Finnish media: Yle national broadcast dedicated the exhibition a feature, highlighting the huge mural paintings the illustrators are jointly working on and the special focus dedicated to the creative process of the illustrator and the tools in their use, ranging from pencils to brushes to graphic design tools.

The Helsingin Sanomat national newspaper dedicated the exhibition an article where a notoriously picky critic – a four-year-old boy– joins the journalists and gives his unfiltered and enthusiastic opinion, resulting in a glowing review of the exhibition, which has been designed to be enjoyed by art lovers of all ages.

Warmest congratulations to the illustrators, and don’t miss out on this exhibition!

What a summer – Pirkko Saisio’s Helsinki trilogy is on a roll. Vocebianca, Fraktura, and Kitos Knygos have secured the Estonian, Croatian, and Lithuanian rights, marking 13 foreign language areas. The Helsinki trilogy made Saisio the first living Finnish author to be included in the Penguin Modern Classics.

Pirkko Saisio’s iconic Helsinki Trilogy continues its journey into the world: Voce bianca and Fraktura have secured the Estonian and Croatian rights respectively, and Kitos knygos has acquired the Lithuanian rights to the third volume of the trilogy, The Red Book of Farewells. This marks 13 foreign language territories for the trilogy so far.

Pirkko Saisio is the grand dame of the Finnish literary and dramatic scene and her Helsinki Trilogy consists of The Lowest Common Multiple, The Backlight, and The Red Book of Farewells. The Helsinki Trilogy is an autofictional trilogy that carries the reader through the childhood, adolescence and adulthood of a girl who wanted to be a boy and started calling herself “her” when she was eight years of age.

The trilogy starts with The Lowest Common Multiple (1998). In the beginning of the novel, the main character, “she”, is already a middle-aged mother. When her father dies, things get shoved o their place. Her memories take her back to her childhood in the 1950s – to a story, which is also about to change. The following novels, The Backlight (2000) and The Red Book of Farewells (2003) deal with the author’s adolescence and coming-of-age, personally and artistically.

The strong themes of the trilogy – the relationship between an individual and the society, sexuality and being queer, and finding your voice – are told in a fragmentary, lyrical style, descriptive of Saisio. As the background, there is Helsinki, changing as the decades go by.

The trilogy made history in January 2024 when Penguin acquired it in a three-book deal which has made Saisio the first living Finnish author to be included in the Penguin Modern Classics. The trilogy is also out in German with Klett-Cotta, in French with Robert Laffont and will be a top title on its release with Host in Czech and De Geus in Dutch.

Vocebianca is a new independent publishing house based in Tartu, a UNESCO City of Literature and an ancient university city. The publisher aims at focusing on novels, essays, and poetry with “good spirit and spark”. The ambition and originality shows equally in all levels of a book’s production. For instance, in 2024, Vocebianca published a Lithuanian classic Vilnius Poker, by Ričardas Gavelis, with 52 different cover designs – as many as there are cards in a poker game.

Fraktura is an established Croatian publishing house whose list boasts a selection of international literary voices including Olga Tokarczuk, Sofi Oksanen, Leïla Slimani, Douglas Stuart, Antonio Scurati and Paolo Cognetti.

Kitos knygos is an esteemed independent Lithuanian publishing house known for its bold and thought-provoking contributions to literature, poetry, culture, and political discourse. They are the Lithuanian home of, among others, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, and Naomi Klein.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!