Ilja Karsikas was nominated for his book The Unicorn, a stunning narration of family life touching on the topic of alcoholism. The jury have motivated their choice as follows: “Despite the heavy subject matter, the book’s illustrations breathe and bring gentle comfort to the reader. The character of the unicorn is an impressive and memorable illustration.”
Sanna Mander was nominated for her book My Teeny-Tiny Witch, an amusing and visually bubbly work that offers a more forgiving view on difficult feelings we all experience, like anger and disappointment. The jury have motivated their choice as follows: “An apt portrayal of today’s family life after divorce. The character of the mother is wonderfully contemporary in her visual aesthetics.”
Warm congratulations to the authors, and don’t miss out on these titles!
The hot Finnish book of the autumn, Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen,has been awarded as the best debut of the year.
Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen has become the literary phenomenon of the autumn not only internationally with sales to 16 areas and offers on the table for 4 more, but also on its home turf, with nominations for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, and also the Torch-bearer Prize. The novel, published in September, has sold in Finland so far 10,000 copies in all formats.
Iida Turpeinen at the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize award ceremony 16th November 2023. (Photo: Urpu Strellman)
Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize is an award worth 15,000 euros given to best debut of the year in all fiction genres. The jury motivated the choice as follows:
“The Steller’s sea cow, which became extinct in 1768, soon after its discovery, […] binds together [in the novel] a group of people from three different centuries. Turpeinen whittles a base of vast background information from the history of science into precision strikes depicting her characters’ most telling moments. At the same time, the novel brings the ecological ruptures and freefall of the entire world to the reader’s skin. The result will move you and have you holding your breath.
Beasts of the Sea (Elolliset, 2023)
As the title states [the Finnish title translates as ‘living creatures’], mankind needs to be seen as a part of Animalia, no better than other species. We know more than other living creatures, but still don’t often act according to that knowledge. From the perspective of natural history, no more than the blink of an eye has passed from the era of the sea cows, and now we ourselves are sowing destruction which in the next blink of an eye may put us next to the vanished species preserved in a museum.
Beasts of the Sea, which so beautifully portrays the vulnerability of its characters, does not leave us without hope. We see that life goes on, always slightly different. The past cannot be brought back, but museums and books will keep it alive. And at its best, a book sweeps its readers to live the past themselves, Turpeinen’s world-class novel does.”
Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize is given out by Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The jury consists of literary critics, journalists and the previous winner of the award: this year, Susanna Hast, who brought home the award in 2022 with her autotheoretical novel Body of Evidence.
The most recent foreign rights news of Beasts of the Sea are here.
The internationally most successful Finnish language debut ever, Iida Turpeinen’s Beasts of the Sea, has reached 18 areas with its sales to the Polish Wydawnictwo Poznańskie. The novel is also a nominee for three major literary awards in Finland.
The latest publisher for Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea is Polish Poznanskie, publisher of authors such as Toni Morrison, Anthony Doerr, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Douglas Stuart, and Bernardine Evaristo.
Rights Manager Paulina Surniak from Poznańskie said:
“I believe that the huge international interest in Beasts of the Sea is well justified. It’s a gorgeously written, poetic, raw and provocative book that tackles an important subject. How are we connected to other species? How can we live with the understanding that human beings have done so much harm? It has the charm of a traditional narrative, full of adventures, explorers and a sense of wonder, and it combines it with timely questions. I’m thrilled that we’ll be able to include it into our list.”
Beasts of the Sea, published in Finland by publishing house S&S, has written Finnish literary history on the international arena, as its rights were quickly sold to a dozen areas with aggressive pre-empts and in heated auctions. Currently, the rights have been sold to 15 areas, with offers on the table for 3 more (Arabic, Catalan and Czech). The international publishers are:
In addition to this remarkable success abroad, the novel has already gained three nominations for literary awards. It is a nominee for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, as well as for the Torch-bearer Prize, given to the most internationally potential Finnish novel. It is also a nominee for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, given to the best debut of the year.
Iida Turpeinen (Photo: Susanna Kekkonen)
The novel is a science-fueled story of extinctions with a huge marine mammal, Steller’s sea cow, as its protagonist. With her short, concise sentence and the skills of a great storyteller, Turpeinen has created a page-turning literary work is that is hugely topical despite the fact that the events of the novel take place in 18th, 19th and 20th century.
Iida Turpeinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based literary scholar currently writing a dissertation on the intersection of the natural sciences and literature.
Antti Hurskainen’s A Wooden Prayer will be travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.
A Wooden Prayer (Suntio, 2023)
A Wooden Prayer is the third novel by Antti Hurskainen, published this autumn to rave reviews. Just last week, it was nominated is for the Finlandia Prize, the largest and most prestigious literary award in Finland, and it is also a nominee for the Torch-bearer Prize, given to a work with most international potential.
The Hungarian publishing house Polar has become known for its quality list of Nordic fiction. From Finland, it has acquired several awarded works, including Pirkko Saisio’s Helsinki trilogy, Mikko Rimminen’s Red Nose Dayand If It Looks Like It, Anni Kytömäki’s Margarita, Selja Ahava‘s The Woman Who Loved Insects, Kari Hotakainen’s Storyand Lifeline, Minna Rytisalo’s Lempiand Iida Turpeinen’s Beasts of the Sea, and has thus become the stronghold of Finnish literary fiction in Hungary.
A Wooden Prayer is a story of faith, love and the consequences of your actions. Helsingin Sanomat newspaper has reviewed it as “a harsh novel that has little regard for curling into an armchair.”
A Wooden Prayer is Antti Hurskainen’s third novel. Hurskainen’s works often deal with the intersection between literature, popular culture, and religion.
Warm congratulations to the author, and don’t miss out on this title!
Fantastic news for our children’s list: the nominations for the Rudolf Koivu Prize are out, and two of our titles are among them, namely Ilja Karsikas‘ The Unicorn and Sanna Mander‘s MyTeeny-Tiny Witch. The Rudolf Koivu Prize is awarded biennially to the best illustrators of books for both children and young adults.
Ilja Karsikas’ The Unicorn ( 2022) is warm-hearted picture book about complicated conditions at home, family life and love. It is based on the author’s own memories and childhood experiences in a caring, ordinary family.
The Unicorn touches on the difficult topic of alcoholism in a delicate way, and with stunning, colourful illustrations that will enchant any reader. The book has been sold to Korea, and an offer from Sweden is on the table.
Sanna Mander, Teeny Tiny Witch (2021)
Sanna Mander’s MyTeeny-Tiny Witch(2021) is a beautiful picture book about a little witch that lives in every child and perhaps even every adult.
Harri, the protagonist, is a wonderfully well-behaved child. Except his best friend, the little witch Axe Rexona, is very much of a troublemaker, and it’s hard to tell them apart, since no-one can see Axe.
We all have a teeny tiny witch: the one that makes us cranky and naughty, makes us do silly things and act up. Mander’s illustrations are flurry and full of energy, and visually gorgeous. The book has been sold to Estonia.
The winner of this year’s Rudolf Koivu’s prize will be announced on Thursday November 16th.
Warm congratulations to both authors, and fingers crossed!
