News

Finnish poetry on stage at the Frankfurt book fair.

The project Poets of Today – Voices of Tomorrow is taking Finnish poetry to the Frankfurt book fair opening this Tuesday. The project is a joint venture by Slovenian, Polish, Hungarian, Serbian and Finnish poets and organisations, and it aims to bring poetry to young people, teachers and local communities in all partner countries. In all these countries, the project includes is one central poet, a team and 10 young poets.

An anthology of poems by the central poets of the five countries will be published, including 25 poems in seven different languages – also in English and in German.

The Finnish poetry programme in Frankfurt consists of the following events:

Wednesday 18th October at 18.00, a Finnish language poetry meeting at the Finnish Assembly, Carl-Goerdeler-Straße 1A, Frankfurt am Main

Thursday 19th October at 19.30, an international poetry meeting at Internationales Theather Frankfurt

On Saturday 21st October, an international poetry meeting at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Finnish stand 4.1 B 35

On Saturday 21st October, a Finnish language poetry meeting at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Finnish stand 4.1 B 35

Information of the programme of different countries in the project can be found on the Facebook page for Poets of Today – Voices of Tomorrow here.

Late Friday night, Iida Turpeinen’s debut was pre-empted by Norway’s leading publishing house, Gyldendal. With a row of pre-empts and offers for the world French and English rights on the table, Beasts of the Sea is “the biggest literary break-through in Finland for years.”

Beasts of the Sea, so far out in Finland for a month and in its third print-run, has been sold to the following areas:

German, Fischer (pre-empted)
Italy, Neri Pozza (pre-empted)
Denmark, People’s (pre-empted)
Sweden, Alfred Bonniers (pre-empted) 
Norway, Gyldendal (pre-empted)
Hungary, Polar
Estonia, Tänapäev.

There are offers on the table for the world French and English rights. The French rights are handled by Anna Lindblom at the Nordik Agency. For the English rights, the deadline is on Wednesday 25th.

The acquiring editor at Gyldendal, Lene Sandvold Evensen, said:

“Iida Turpeinen elegantly and entertainingly brings life to the diverse characters of this book (…). The descriptions of the expedition to Alaska is shockingly captivating: (…) This part of the book so well captures the transition of the 18^th century, when science and knowledge took over from superstition, omens and beliefs.”

“What captured me the most is the book’s wonderful ability to entertainingly and so smartly say something about the history of science, of enlightenment. The costs of this, for animals, people and nature. And also the enormous forces of nature (weather, climate, dangerous species etc.) that can destroy man in only a second. And yet this need for domestication, for control, for understanding seems untamable in humans. There are so many fascinating aspects of this novel – and the idea of putting the sea cow at the center of it all is not only interesting and smart, it is fun!”

“But ultimately what makes this book so fulfilled is Turpeinen’s brilliant writing. There are sentences here that are perfect: poetic, precise and beautiful (“he runs his memory through the most madcap shelves of curiosity cabinets”).  The metaphors (“hunger returns like a faithful dog”!), the shifts in style, the composition – you can immediately tell that this book is written by a hugely talented writer.”

Gyldendal Norsk Forlag is Norway’s leading publishing house with a prestigious list of foreign fiction, including 62 Nobel Prize winners and numerous bestsellers.

For the statements by other publishers, follow these links to the news: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia.

The row of pre-empts of the “world-class debut” by Iida Turpeinen continues to Sweden and to Albert Bonniers förlag. There are offers also on the table for the French and English rights.

The biggest literary phenomenon from Finland this year, Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea has just been pre-empted in Sweden by Albert Bonniers förlag. Previously, it has been pre-empted in Germany by Fischer, in Italy by Neri Pozza, just yesterday in Denmark by People’s. There are offers on the table for the French rights (handled by Nordik Agency, with a deadline for first offers on Monday 16th), and also an offer for the English rights (with a deadline on Wednesday 25th, handled by us). In Hungary, the publisher is Polar, and in Estonia, Tänapäev.

The acquiring editor of Alfred Bonniers, Johanna Haegerström, characterized the novel as follows:

“Beasts of the Sea is an incredibly fascinating, beautiful and, in fact, also very sad – as it discusses extinction – historical novel. It describes the hunger for science and the miracles of nature in a way that made me immediately amazed and curious. Writing in crystal clear and factual literary style, Turpeinen manages in very few and quick draws make her characters so deep that you get close to them. […] I suspect this is the biggest literary break-through in Finland in years.”

Albert Bonniers förlag is a part of Sweden’s largest publishing group. Other authors published include Olga Tokarczuk, Jon Fosse, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jenny Erpenbeck, Daniel Kehlmann, Zadie Smith, and, from Finland, Sofi Oksanen and Katja Kettu.

The biggest literary phenomenon from Finland this year, Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea, has been gotten its third pre-empt in less than two weeks, now in Denmark by People’s.

With the Danish deal, Beasts of the Sea has traveled so far to five areas: Germany, where it was pre-empted by Fischer; Italy, pre-empted by Neri Pozza; Estonia, acquired by Tänapäev; and Hungary, acquired by Polar. There are offers on the table from France.

“Beasts of the Sea is a wonderful book – poetical, raw, timely and no doubt the first of many great books to come from Iida Turpeinen,” said Christel Hvalsøe Brinkløv, the senior acquiring editor of People’s. A part of the Storytel family, People’s is the publisher of such authors as Joël Dicker, Lisa Taddeo, Fredrik Backman, Neil Gaiman and from Finland, Ann-Christin Antell.

With a third edition on its way in just four weeks time since first publication, Beasts of the Sea is also writing history for the Finnish foreign rights sales: never before has a Finnish literary debut broken out to the world with five-figure deals and a row of pre-empts.

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.

The triumph of this autumn’s hottest Finnish title, Iida Turpeinen’s debut Beasts of the Sea continues to Hungary and towards France.

Pre-empted in Germany by Fischer on the eve of the Gothenburg fair and at the end of last week by Neri Pozza in Italy, Beasts of the Sea has been acquired in Hungary by Polar, a publishing house with a remarkable list of Scandinavian literary fiction. In addition to a significant number of Finnish authors, including the author of the Helsinki Trilogy, Pirkko Saisio, Polar publishes such authors as Karen Blixen, Vigdis Hjort, and August Strindberg.

In addition to finding a home in Hungary, Beasts of the Sea is headed towards France, where there are now offers on the table, with a deadline for first offers next Monday. The French rights are handled by Anna Lindblom from the Nordik Agency.

With a lot of excitement in other areas as well, there are bound to be some more news to expect prior to the Frankfurt fair, as the journey of the wonderful, strange sea mammal, the Steller’s sea cow, is just beginning!