News

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!

Ellen Strömberg’s We’ll Just Ride Past, the winner of the August Prize 2022, is now travelling to the Faroe Islands, marking six language territories for the title.

We’ll Just Ride Past by Ellen Strömberg is continuing its journey into the world and it is now travelling to the Faroe Islands, where it will be published by Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags, marking the sixth language territory for this YA title which is the winner of the August Prize 2022.

We’ll Just Ride Past won the August Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in Sweden, in 2022 and its rights has already been sold for Italian, Korean, Slovenian, Polish and Catalan. In We’ll Just Ride Past we follow Manda and Malin, two best friends in a small town where nothing ever happens. The girls are known as the Bicycles, because they’re always riding around looking for excitement, be it people to hang out with, a party, a little love – anything goes. 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.

Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags is the Faroese Teachers’ Association’s Publishing Company, and it specializes in children’s and YA literature. Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags, founded in 1956, publishes about 80 books a year and strives to bring high-quality literature to the Faroe from all over the world: it is the Faroese home of, among others, the Harry Potter series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!