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The Thick of the Forest by Linnea Kuuluvainen continues its journey out into the world: Septime has secured the German rights, marking the fifth foreign deal for this title.

Linnea Kuuluvainen‘s brilliant debut The Thick of the Forest continues to enchant foreign publishers: it is now travelling to the German-speaking world, where it will be published by Septime. This is the fifth foreign deal for this title, that has already travelled to Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, and Slovakia.

The Thick of the Forest is a literary dystopian novel that follows two women, Edla and Ingrid, along two different timelines on the background of a Finnish forest that is raging against human exploitation, and of an increasingly authoritarian state. As the two women’s stories intertwine in unexpected ways, the book explores the relationship between mankind and nature with a rich, enchanting language. For its themes and sharp eye on women’s rights in authoritarian states, and for its strong characters, The Thick of the Forest can be pitched as a twist on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale set in the Finnish forest.

The Thick of the Forest is author Linnea Kuuluvainen’s debut, and was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for the best debut of the year upon its release, and it is currently running for the Mirrormere Prize.  In Finland, it is published by Gummerus.

Septime is an Austrian publishing house with a carefully curated selection of domestic and international authors. They are the publishers of, among others, Jan Kjærstad, Pascal Garnier, Ryū Murakami, and Ute Cohen.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Kawade Shobo Shinsha has secured the Japanese rights to Fishing For The Little Pike by Juhani Karila. This marks 21 foreign language areas for this title.

Fishing For The Little Pike by Juhani Karila is travelling to Japan, where it will be published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha. The book has been an international hit, and Japanese will be the 21st language it is published in.

Fishing For The Little Pike follows a young woman, Elina, who every year must travel to her home village in Eastern Lapland and fish a specific pond from a specific pike, lest she and her childhood sweetheart die. This year, however, fate has gotten in the way in the form of a water sprite who has taken over the pond, and in the form of a detective who is Elina’s trail on suspicion of murder. As the summer solstice approaches and mosquito season is in full swing in the heart of Lapland, Elina must find a way to fish the pike, and make peace with her past.

Fishing For The Little Pike has been a wonderful literary success: its English-language editions, out with Restless Books and Pushkin Press on opposite sides of the Atlantic, have been highly praised and welcomed with raving reviews and the book continues to gather attention from international publishers, readers, and critics. In Finland, where the book is published by Siltala, it was awarded the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize, the Lapland Literature Prize, and the Jarkko Laine Literature Prize.

Juhani Karila is an author and journalist based in Helsinki, with a background in quirky short stories. Fishing For The Little Pike is his first novel.

Kawade Shobo Shinsha is one of Japan’s leading publishers of books and has secured the rights in a deal brought to us by Tuttle Mori Literary Agency. Kawade Shobo Shinsha have over a century of experience in the publishing industry, having started in 1886. They have since then been the home of domestic bestsellers like Amy Yamada’s “Bed Time-Eyes” (1985) and Machi Tawara’s “Salad Memorial Day”(1987) and of international authors of high profile like Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Vladmir Nabokov, Desmond Morris, and our very own Iida Turpeinen, among others.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Hart has acquired the Slovenian rights to The Silk Road North by Anu Ojala marking the third foreign language for this series.

The Silk Road North by Anu Ojala continues to conquer Europe: Hart has acquired the Slovenian rights, marking the third foreign language for this series, already pre-empted by Droemer Knaur and acquired by De Fontein in a German and Dutch deal respectively.

On the Swedish-Finnish border the twin city of Tornio-Haparanda is in the clutch of a crime wave revolving around a new synthetic drug. As the police fight a helpless battle, Sergeant Ronja Jentzch and her team find unexpected connections between international crime and the drug trafficking ravaging Lapland. As the frozen sea brings deadly substances over to seemingly calm and safe communities, cases of inhumane cruelty, despair-driven crimes, and international meddling become a daily challenge for Jentzsch and her team. Revered by readers, the series brings to light the long-silenced truth about the rise of international drug crime in northern Finland.

Anu Ojala (b.1972) is an author and lawyer living in Rovaniemi in the Finnish Lapland who knows the background of the Arctic drug war well. She has worked in a law firm and at the University of Lapland, and has previously written novels for young readers. Her Silk Road North series consists of three volumes so far: The Silk Road North, Death Knell, and The Skynet.

Hart is a Slovenian publishing house whose list hosts a selection of fiction in translation, quality illustrated non-fiction, and a broad range of literature for children and young adults.

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

Jukka Tuhkuri, the author of the captivating and moving narrative non-fiction book Icebound: The Search for Endurance and the Real Reason It Sank , has been in the spotlight of international press this week for his ground-breaking new study proving the real reasons behind the sinking of the legendary ship Endurance.

Contrary to the opinion that has prevailed among experts and general public alike for over a century, Tuhkuri’s study contends that it was the ship itself, not the ice, that led to its demise and eventual sinking. Released on Monday in the journal Polar Record, the new study has attracted wide international attention, with NY Times, CNN, Der Spiegel, among others, reporting on the story.

A polar explorer himself, Tuhkuri was one of 15 scientists who were invited to join the Endurance22 mission, the team that discovered the wreck in 2022. The nonfiction book Icebound: The Search for Endurance and the Real Reason It Sank published in Finland in 2024, focuses on this journey. In addition to that, Tuhkuri retells the Shackleton myth in a new light, and dedicates an entire chapter to exploring Shackleton’s diaries and the real reasons behind Endurance’s sinking.

The book has been warmly received in Finland, with critics praising Tuhkuri’s storytelling, dedication to his subject, and the moving narrative.

“When writing about his own experiences, Tuhkuri produces highly flowing text in which emotions are palpable. Ice, wind, and especially the penguins are described enchantingly. An avid reader, Tuhkuri effortlessly drops references to world literary classics: Moby Dick, the old sailor, Kipling and Dickens find their natural place; and even this Finnish author cannot avoid mentioning Moominpappa when writing about sea”, critic Kimmo Ylönen writes in the Kulttuuritoimutus magazine.

An extensive English sample and synopsis are free upon request, and foreign rights of the book are still available in many territories.

We’re so very happy: author Merja Mäki has received the Pohjalainen Award for her novel Wept Another, the second set in wartime Karelia.

Author Merja Mäki has received the Pohjalainen Award for her novel Wept Another, the second set in wartime Karelia, after the successful Before the Birds. Both titles are published by Gummerus in Finland.

The Pohjalainen Award is given every other year by the Ilkka Pohjalainen newspaper, in collaboration with the Regional Councils of South Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia, to the best literary work with connections to the region. The jury have given Wept Another an additional special mention for its beautiful language and the chair of the jury has stated that with Wept Another Merja Mäki “has risen to join the ranks of the great Finnish storytellers”.

Wept Another follows Larja, a young woman from Eastern Karelia. It is 1942, and peace has momentarily descended on this bit of territory recently reclaimed from the Soviets by Finnish troops. Larja has been studying at a teacher training camp and upon her return to her home village she has to come to terms with the fact that nothing is as it was. As Larja cares for her ailing grandmother, she listens to the messages the trees are sending her on the northern winds and discovers that she has the gift of wailing. After a Finnish man steps into her life, Larja finds herself again torn between two different worlds. Wept Another is the story of a young woman who has grown up between two cultures on the border of two countries. It is a tale of roots and the ties that bind us, but above all, of the choices that you must make in life.

Warmest congratulations to the author, and don’t miss out on this title!