Fishing For the Little Pike by Juhani Karila has been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award, one of the most significant literary awards globally.
Fishing For the Little Pike by Juhani Karila has been nominated for the globally prestigious Dublin Literary Award. The novel was translated into English by Lola Rogers, and is published by Restless Books in the US and Pushkin Press in the UK and Ireland with the title Summer Fishing in Lapland.
Fishing For the Little Pike by Juhani Karila has been a long-standing success: originally published in Finland by Siltala in 2019, this title has since travelled to 20 language territories all over the world, enchanting readers and critics alike with its quirky atmosphere and fast-paced and multi-faceted plot. The book follows young Elina as she returns to her hometown in Eastern Lapland on her yearly quest to fish a specific pike out of a specific pond. Her life and an old lover’s depend on it, but this year a detective is on her trail, and the pond has a new inhabitant.
The Dublin Literary Award is regarded as one of the most significant literary awards globally. The award is aimed at books either produced in English or translated into English globally. A longlist is created on a yearly basis from invited public libraries from all over the world. A panel of judges then picks a shortlist of ten titles, from which a winner is selected and announced during the International Literature Festival in Dublin.
The choice of Karila’s novel, has been commented by the nominating libraried as follows:
“Every sentence in Fishing for a Little Pike is a joy to read. It is a charming blend of reality and magic. The activities of believable characters in the beautiful Northeastern Finland are occasionally interrupted, aided, or observed by characters from local folklore. In this book there are both harsh realities and more comical sides of life as well as aspects of being human and something so recognizably Finnish. The translation from Finnish by Lola Rogers is smooth and flowing and conveys this unique story well.“(Tartu Public Library)
“Summer Fishing in Lapland is a quirky, exhilarating and utmostly original novel located in Finnish Lapland (Sápmi). It is a story about young Elina’s both adventurous and magical trip to her home village to taim a mythical spike – otherwise both Elina and her loved one will die. Weird creatures and shenenigans of northern nature fill the trip and the story with absurd pleasure.” (Helsinki City Library / Pasila Library)
Fishing For The Little Pike is Juhani Karila‘s debut novel. Karila, journalist and previously author of short stories and novella, won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Silver Foreword Indies Award and received several nominations for this title.
In a recent Helsingin Sanomat newspaper ranking, Fishing For the Little Pike was ranked #4 in the list of 100 Best Books of the Century from Finland picked by readers, and #14 in the list of 100 Best Books of the Century from Finland in the list picked by critics.
Warm congratulations to the author and the publishers, and fingers crossed!