The Thick of the Forest by Linnea Kuuluvainen is now travelling to Bulgaria, where it will be published by Colibri.
The Thick of the Forest (Metsän peitto, Gummerus 2024)
More amazing news: The Thick of the Forest by Linnea Kuuluvainen is travelling to Bulgaria, where it will be published by Colibri. This is the second foreign deal for this title.
The Thick of the Forest is set in a near future where nature has started fighting back against human exploitation, destroying the world as we know it. Mixing elements from Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in the unique setting of a Finnish forest capable of utter destruction, The Thick of the Forest is an entrancing and linguistically captivating first novel about a forest that haunts people and two women, Edla and Ingrid, whose stories intersect.
Author Linnea Kuuluvainen
The result is a rich telling of the relationship between mankind and nature, and of how the lines dividing them become increasingly blurry in the depth of the forest. In Finland, the book is published by Gummerus, and was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for the best debut of the year.
Colibri is a Bulgarian publishing house with a broad list, including classics like Zola and Shakespeare, prominent contemporary authors like Salman Rushdie, Ian Mc Ewan, Joel Dicker, and our very own Selja Ahava.
Warm congratulations to the author and the publisher!
Fishing For the Little Pike by Juhani Karila has been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, one of the most significant literary awards globally.
Fishing For the Little Pike (Pienen hauen pyydystys, 2019. Pictured here: US English edition by Restless Books)
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.
Summer Fishing in Lapland (Pienen hauen pyydystys, 2019. Pictured here: UK English edition by Pushkin Press)
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!
The national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has recently published two lists of the 100 Best Books from Finland. One of the lists consists in the Critics’ Selection of 100 Best Books, as picked by critics and literary professionals, while the other included the Readers’ Selection of 100 Best Books as picked by readers.
The international bestseller Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen is topping the Readers’ Selection list, and is ranked #16 in the Critics’ Selection list. Readers have chosen it as their #1 and called it a “crazily stunning story and at the same time a so touchingly serious reminder of what mankind does to the rest of the natural world without thinking of the consequences at all.”
Ice (Is, S&S, 2012)
Ice by Ulla-Lena Lundberg is another top favourite for both readers and critics: the book is ranked #2 in the Readers’ Selection, and #6 in the Critics’ Selection. It comes as no surprise, as Ice was already chosen as readers’ all-time favourite Finlandia winner last year. Ice is the story of a young pastor and his family in a remote community, and it has been described as touching, quietly epic, and entertaining.
Fishing For the Little Pike (Pienen hauen pyydystys, Siltala 2019)
Coming in strong at #4 in the Readers’ Selection and #14 in the Critics’ is Fishing For the Little Pike by Juhani Karila. Publisher Nora Varjama, who reviewed for the Critics’ Selection, has stated that the book is “a little Finnish folly. You can only find it in literature. An insane gem, and even more insane is the fact that Finns have taken this on as their own.” A crowd favourite, the book is also an international hit, and has already travelled to 20 language territories.
Author Anni Kytömäki
In the Reader’s Selection’s top 10 we also find Margarita by Anni Kytömäki (#7), another bestselling Finlandia-winning title, ranked at #75 in the Critics’ list. Kytömäki’s production in its entirety is shown a lot of love: Goldheart is in the top 20 of the Readers’ Selection, Mirabilis in the top 50, and Stone Weaver is ranked at #81. Critics too, include several of Kytömäki’s books in the list: they rank Goldheart even higher than Margarita, at #55.
Destruction (Hävitys, Siltala 2020)
Destruction by Iida Rauma is high up on both lists: readers place in their top 20 at #15, and critics in their top 10 at #7. Destruction, a story of school violence and historical, personal and natural destruction, was a literary sensation and won the Finlandia in 2020. It has already travelled to four language territories and the Swedish edition, out with Ramus, took Sweden by storm.
Pirkko Saisio is featured with two titles in both lists. On top of her The Red Book of Farewells, both lists rank Passion among their favourites. Passion is ranked at #5 in the Readers’ Selection, and #21 in the Critics’ Selection.
Trench Road by Kari Hotakainen is also featured in both lists: readers place it at #30, and critics at #58. The novel tells a story of one Matti Virtanen, whose life is changed by a single strike, after which his wife and daughter leave him. Losing his family breaks the spine of Matti’s existence. He feels he needs to gain his family back, and starts fulfilling his wife’s dream of a house. His obsession drives him to excesses, and soon there is no turning back. Trench Road was awarded the most prestigious literary award in the country, Finlandia Prize, as well as the Nordic Council Literature Prize.
The other HLA titles on the Readers’ Selection of 100 Best Books are:
We’ll Just Ride Past by Ellen Strömberg has been shortlisted for the Mare di Libri Prize in Italy, where it is published by Terre di Mezzo.
We’ll Just Ride Past (Vi ska ju bara cykla förbi, S&S 2022, Italian edition.)
We’ll Just Ride Past by Ellen Strömberg has been shortlisted for the Mare di Libri Prize in the category Fiction in Italy. The Italian edition of the book is published by Terre di Mezzo in translation by Samanta Milton Knowles.
For the Mare di Libri Prize a jury of experts picks a shortlist, and the winner is selected by readers aged 14-16 across Italy. Mare di Libri (literally “sea of books”) is also a literary festival for young readers, taking place in Rimini every June.
We’ll Just Ride Past follows Manda and Malin, a duo of best friends in ninth grade. They are nicknamed The Bicycles as they cycle everywhere looking for fun and something to do in a small town where nothing ever happens. 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.
Ellen Strömberg is a Swedish-speaking Finnish author whose production ranges from picture books to novels. We’ll Just Ride Past was a domestic and international success and her latest YA novel No Beginning No End has been received with warm praise. It is the story of Benjamin, a shy teenage boy dealing with his mother’s death, as he grows close with Tristan, a mysterious boy.
Congratulations to the author and the publisher, and fingers crossed!
Radio Popov by Anja Portin continues to establish itself as a wonderful international success. The Slovenian edition of the book by Sodobnost, in Slovenian translation by Julija Potrč Šavli, has been welcomed warmly and put in the spotlight last autumn.
In a tour in Slovenia author Anja Portin discussed the book and its themes with young readers and teachers, toured different literary events, and attended the Ljubljana Book Fair.
Photo: Katja Klopčič Lavrenčič
Radio Popov is one of the most successful children’s books of the last years: it won the Finlandia Junior upon its release, and has already travelled to 25 language territories. Radio Popov follows Alfred, a nine-year-old boy who lives virtually alone. His mother is not in the picture and his father is constantly busy with work and business trips. During one of these business trips Alfred is left alone for so long he runs out of food, and electricity is cut off. When everything seems lost, Alfred is saved by a mysterious stranger who delivers food and woollen socks in lonely children’s letterboxes. It is the beginning of a wonderful adventure that will lead Alfred to a new family, and to saving more forgotten children. Alfred’s story is moving, and touches on social issues, but also contains joy, friendship, and a happy ending. The story, where children are left to their own devices with their problems in the face of absent or unhelpful adults is reminiscent of literary classics like the works of Astrid Lindgren and Roald Dahl.
