Author: Chiara Stanziani

Endless Winter, the first volume in the Mythicals graphic novel series by Miila Westin, is rapidly becoming an international success as World Spanish and Czech rights to the title have been sold. The series will be published by Galimatazo for Spanish and Host for Czech.

Winter is over, but Endless Winter by Miila Westin is setting off on its journey into the world: the first instalment in the Mythicals graphic novel series for children is travelling to the Spanish-speaking world, where it will be published by Galimatazo, and to the Czech Republic, where it will be published by Host. This marks the first two language territories for this amazing title, and there is strong interest from multiple other areas.

Endless Winter is a winning combination of stunning illustrations, elements from the Finnish mythology and adventure with an environmentally conscious twist. In the book we follow 10-year-old Eevi, who has just lost her grandfather. It’s June, but there’s a snowstorm and there’s no sign winter will end anytime soon. After receiving a mysterious necklace from her grandmother, Eevi sees things whose existence she ignored, including the guardian elf of barley who has a hunch of why spring is delayed – and learns that if something isn’t done soon, winter will last forever. Eevi is soon drawn into a magical adventure with a group of elves. Their mission is to free the awakener of spring nature, whom the powerful and evil Kalevala witch Louhi has imprisoned in the Underworld. On the journey, Eevi encounters various magical creatures, gets lost in the forest and finally slips through a crack into the Underworld: is this her chance to get Grandpa back?

Endless Winter is the first book of the Mythicals, a series of graphic novels that introduces ancient Balto-Finnic folklore to children. The second book, Dangerous Dream, is out this week.

Galimatazo is a beautiful independent publishing house with a strong focus on high-quality illustrated books and classics from the Nordic countries, and they feature, among others, a Norwegian graphic novel for children.

Host is the Czech home of many Finnish titles, including our very own A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large for the children’s list and Pirkko Saisio’s Helsinki Trilogy and Juhani Karila’s Fishing For the Little Pike for adults’ fiction.

We are delighted with the deals, and more to come soon: congratulations to the author and the publishers!

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola, a nominee for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, is travelling to Hungary and Denmark, where it will be published by Polar and Jensen and Dalgaard respectively.

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola, our Oulipo title nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar, and to Denmark, where it will be published by Jensen & Dalgaard.

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband owes its title to a real-life case: in 1981, Anja B. from Finland took a shotgun to her Norwegian husband Thorvald’s chest and fired. He died immediately. On the 5th of May 1983 history was made as the District Court of Oslo not only released her from the murder charges but found her late husband guilty because of the physical abuse he had inflicted on her for years. 

The book serves us Anja B.’s story via different methods and various narrative styles that are in turn witty, surprising, touching, skilful, or garnished with a dose of gallows humour. The authors break the dismal convention of crime stories that begin with the discovery of the body of a young woman. This time, it is the violent husband who dies – 101 times over.

101 Ways to Kill Your Husband’s world French rights are with Gallimard.

Polar is a Hungarian publishing house who delivers high-quality literature on the Hungarian market. It is, among others, the Hungarian home of A Wooden Prayer and Beasts of the Sea.

Jensen & Dalgaard is the Danish publisher of quality Finnish fiction, including the works of Leena Krohn, A Wooden Prayer by Antti Hurskainen, and Selja Ahava’s Before My Husband Disappears.

Congratulations to the authors and the publishers!

The Book of Misty Trees by Anja Portin, the author of best-selling Radio Popov, is travelling to Poland, where it will be published by Widnokrag.

Anja Portin‘s latest novel for children, The Book of Misty Trees, continues its journey into the world: it is now travelling to Poland, where it will be published by Widnokrag.

The Book of Misty Trees follows Magda Murkbird, who loses her mother in a horrible accident and needs to learn to cope on her own. Luckily, she is not all alone but has Chestnut – the best dog on earth. In fact, it is thanks to Chestnut that Magda has survived unscathed. The two set off on a journey to look for Magda’s aunt she has never met, and on the way they get lost in a mysterious thick fog covering the peak of the Misty Mountain. 

Thus begins an unforgettable adventure in a world governed by Misty Trees, above all the eldest of them, the fountain of all living, the enormous Everbark. The Book of Misty Trees is an adventurous novel for children, where the classic tropes of fantasy are mixed with an environmentally conscious twist, resulting in an enchanting read.

Anja Portin is the author of the international bestseller Radio Popov, and her books focus on children who take action when adults can’t or won’t do what is needed, in a style reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren.

Widnokrag is a beautiful publishing house that publishes high-quality books and is, among others, the Polish home of both Portin’s Radio Popov and Eva Frantz’s The Mystery of Helmersbruk Manor.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

We’ll Just Ride Past, the August Prize winning YA title by Ellen Strömberg, has secured its fourth language territory as the Catalan rights are sold to l’Altra Editorial.

Ellen Strömberg’s We’ll Just Ride Past is continuing its journey into the world as the Catalan rights have been acquired by l’Altra Editorial. We’ll Just Ride Past won the August Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in Sweden, in 2022 and it has already travelled to Italy, Korea, and Slovenia.

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.

L’Altra Editorial is a beautiful Catalan publishing house who is, among others, the Catalan home of Tove Jansson’s books and established titles for young readers such as Ana Pessoa and Bernardo P. Carvalho’s Mary John and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.

In Finland, the book is published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Pirkko Saisio’s Helsinki Trilogy continues its journey into the world: The Red Book of Farewells is travelling to Georgia, where it will be published by Sulakauri.

The Red Book of Farewells, the third volume in the Helsinki Trilogy by Pirkko Saisio, is travelling to Georgia, where it will be published by Sulakauri.

The Red Book of Farewells follows the protagonist as she is approaching adulthood and joins Helsinki Student Theatre, which is forthrightly Communist in attitude. Soon she meets her great love, Havva. These starting points trigger off a series of many farewells to be taken over a long period of time. The Red Book of Farewells describes the discovery of a sexual identity and a vocation as a writer, the political student activism in the 1970s, and intense love affairs. Saisio’s fragmentary and at the same time lyrical style is an integral part of her autofiction, in which tension changes and in which ‘I’ is ‘she’ – both the object of scrutiny and an autonomous actor. The novel was awarded Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize.

The trilogy has quickly established itself as a classic in Finland, and rose to the rank of international phenomenon on the literary scene . After being pre-empted to Dutch, German, French and the UK and Commonwealth, where the trilogy will be published in the Penguin Modern Classics, the Helsinki Trilogy has also been recently sold to the Czech Republik(Host),  Hungary (Polar), and Romania (Pandora M). In the USA and Canada, it is published by Two Lines Press.

Sulakauri is a Georgian publishing house with over two decades of experience that publish over 350 titles a year. Sulakauri is a general publisher, known for producing books for all ages and of almost all kinds: fiction and non-fiction, documentary, biography, graphic novel, comic books, books for children and young adults, educational books. Their list of translated titles consists of books from all over the world, and they are currently developing an imprint with classics and modern classics in translation.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!