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Matias Riikonen, the author of Matara, is touring Germany in a series of upcoming events, author discussions and panels to celebrate the publication of the German edition of Matara by Karl Rauch Verlag.

Monday October 14th Matias Riikonen will be in an author conversation with his German translator Maximilian Murmann at 19 in Berlin, at the Nordic Embassies Felleshus. The conversation will center around Matara, the fictional world of the book, and its themes.

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 circus entertainments are devised to thrill the charcoal-whiskered rabble. 

A blow from a wooden sword means a death from which there is no return. And foreign people are treated the way they generally are: pitilessly. With the cruel nations of yore prowling the borders of the Republic of Matara, neither birthright nor wealth excuse one from the military drills that ensure the realm’s safety.  Under the guidance of his older brother, a young boy trains to be a scout. While spying, the pair come upon an enemy camp: war is at hand.

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.

Mark your calendars, and don’t miss out on this event!

Author Pirkko Saisio has been on tour in the Netherlands, attending the ILFU literature festival and having discussions and presentations in bookshops.

ILFU is the biggest literature festival in the Netherlands, lasting over two weeks and hosting over 200 authors and dozens of thousands of visitors. Started 20 years ago as a poetry event, ILFU is now one of the beating hearts of the Dutch literary scene of all genres, ranging from YA to non-fiction.

Saisio’s Helsinki Trilogy, a Finnish modern classic now established as world-class literature, is out in Dutch in a beautiful edition by De Geus.

The trilogy consists of The Lowest Common Multiple, The Backlight, and Pirkko Saisio: The Red Book of Farewells and it is the first work by a living Finnish author to be included in the Penguin Modern Classics list. Its international success also extends to the French-speaking world, where the trilogy is published by Robert Laffont, Germany, where it is published by Klett Cotta, and more.

Author Pirkko Saisio has recently welcomed her latest novel, Suliko, where a raw and poetic narration takes the reader on a deep dive into the mind of a dictator.

Congratulations to the author!

Iida Rauma’s Destruction, the winner of Finlandia Prize 2022, is travelling to the Czech Republic, where the book will be published by Argo. This is the 4th language territory for the title.

Destruction by Iida Rauma quickly caught critics’ and readers’ attention when it came out in 2022 thanks to its combination of a strong and captivating literary voice, an impressive thematic depth and the ability to bring to the fore a social issue often overlooked: how children are treated in society. In Destruction, Rauma turns the spotlight onto violence in schools, but builds the theme into even bigger issues: how the strong always tend to exercise their power on the weaker ones.

The book follows A, a young teacher and bullying survivor, whose past catches up with her during a nightly jog around the city of Turku. A familiar figure triggers a series of memories and events that take A on a deep dive into the personal destruction she escaped, into the collective destruction suffered by her city in the past, and the one suffered by our planet’s ecosystem right now.

According to Turun Sanomat newspaper, the novel is “a dazzling demonstration of art’s potential to expose societal structures”.

Destruction has been previously sold to Rámus in Sweden – where the Swedish edition was received with rave reviews and extensive coverage – to Jensen & Dalgaard in Denmark and to Magvető in Hungary. In Finland, it is published by Siltala.

Argo is a major Czech publisher with a broad selection of high-quality domestic and international fiction. They are the Czech publisher of, among others, Umberto Eco, Kazuo Ishiguro, Leïla Slimani, Margaret Atwood, Peter Høeg and Sally Rooney.

Warm congratulations to the author and the publisher!

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng (ill.) is travelling to Denmark, where it will be published by Bogoo.

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng (ill.) is starting its journey out into the world and travelling to Denmark, where it will be published by Bogoo.

The Smuggler’s Treasure is an adventure chapter book with a Christmas twist and it follows twelve-year-old Oliver, who gets thrown into a century-old mystery as he spends two weeks at his Grandma’s place on an island in the middle of nowhere. A mysterious compass in Grandma’s forbidden attic leads Oliver on a treasure hunt in the archipelago following the tracks of the area’s most notorious smuggler, who also happens to be Oliver’s ancestor. Luckily, a happy ending is in the cards, and there’s plenty of Christmas cosiness for everyone.

Axel Åhman is an author, journalist and comedian based in Vaasa, and Ola Skogäng is an established Swedish illustrator, comics and visual artist. This is their first collaboration, published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.

Bogoo is a new Danish publishing house specialising in practical non-fiction and entertaining children’s and YA literature.

Congratulations to the authors and the publisher!

Beasts of the Sea is now travelling to Slovakia, where it will be published by Slovart, marking 27 language territories for this title.

Iida Turpeinen‘s Beasts of the Sea, the hot book of 2023, is continuing its journey out into the world: it is now travelling to Slovakia, where it will be published by Slovart.

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 Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, 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 and its foreign rights have been sold to 26 territories all over the world. The German edition, out with Fischer, is a current hit in Germany, and its French edition by Autrement has been welcomed with rave reviews on French media, including on the newspaper Liberation.

In Finland, Beasts of the Sea is published by Kustantamo S&S, part of Schildts & Söderströms and it has already sold 50.000 copies in Finland alone.

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. 

Slovart is a Slovakian publishing house active since 1991. It focuses on providing a broad selection of high-quality literature to the Slovakian public and is the Slovakian home of, among others, Ian McEwan, Camilla Läckberg, and Gabriel García Màrquez.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!