Author: Chiara

One of Estonia’s top publishing houses, Tänapäev, has acquired the lauded debut Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen.

Helsinki Literary Agency’s top book of autumn 2023, Iida Turpeinen‘s Beasts of the Sea, has been sold to Tänapäev in Estonia. It will be published in Tänapäev’s series called The Red Book, featuring such autors as the Nobel Prize winners Annie Ernaux, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Peter Handke, as well as modern literary classics such as George Saunders, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Hervé Le Tellier and Kurt Vonnegut. The only other title from Finland to have made it to the series before is Our Earthly Life, by Riikka Pelo.

Tauno Vahter, the publisher of Tänäpäev, has described Beasts Of The Sea as follows:

“Beasts of the Sea is an adventurous novel about mankind and nature, one that gives food for thought. The theme running through this relatively small book is the inevitable changing of the world, which is at times tragic, but at times, strangely, also tragicomic. The novel will attract the readers of Daniel Kehlmann’s Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World) and Richard Powers’ Overstory.”

Turpeinen’s novel was published in Finland only a few weeks ago and got a raving review in the largest newspaper of the country, Helsingin Sanomat, stating that the book is a “world-class novel” that “focuses on a single sea cow and individuals linked to it over a span of three centuries, makes the ecological ruptures and freefall of the entire world into a palpable experience”.

In 1741, naturalist and theologist Georg Wilhelm Steller joins the Great Northern Expedition, as Captain Vitus Bering and his crew scout out a sea route from Asia to America. Although they never reach the American mainland, they make a unique discovery: the Steller’s sea cow.

It is the start of a 200-year-long quest, and a story of natural diversity through individual destinies, of grand human ambitions and of the urge to resurrect what humankind in its ignorance has destroyed.

Warmest congratulations to the author!

Terrific news for our non-fiction list: A History of Finland has been sold to Armenia, where it will be published by Newmag. This marks the 16th foreign sale for this non-fiction title by professor Henrik Meinander.

A History of Finland paints a brisk and bold picture of Finland from integrated part of the Swedish kingdom to autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian empire, gradually transformed and maturing into a conscious nation, independent state and skilful adapter of modern technology.

The book places Finland in a wider Nordic and European perspective and skilfully weaves political, economic and cultural developments into an integral whole. In a departure from most conventional approaches, Meinander gives greater emphasis to recent and contemporary events.

In other words, he puts Finland into a range of historical contexts to highlight how the Baltic and European settings together have formed Finland into what it is at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Congratulations to the author!

Great news for our author Karin Erlandsson: The Blue Yarn has been sold to Slovenia, where it will be published by Hart. This marks the 4th foreign sale for the title.

In The Blue Yarn Erlandsson weaves together a nonfiction book, where personal memories intertwine with thought and reflections on the world, weaving together an enjoyable read. To put it in Erlandsson’s own words, in her letter to readers of the German edition published by Blanvalet:

“The world may fall apart around me, but I can always knit one, perl one, and straighten out the mess and the skein. I am not the only one.

Throughout history, many women (yes, it’s mostly women) have coped with sorrows by for example knitting a beautiful hat for the deceased to wear in the grave. We have handled war by knitting socks to loved ones at the front. We have protested against patriarchy by dressing statues in striped scarves and we have protested against capitalism by coloring our own yarn.”

The Blue Yarn: What I Know About Knitting by award-winning novelist Karin Erlandsson is an inspiring book seasoned with knitting humour about the history of knitting, women who knit, and its enduring appeal.

Congratulations to the author!

We are really excited to share this bit of news: We’ll Just Ride Past by Ellen Strömberg has been sold to Slovenia, where it will be published by Mladinska Knjiga.

Mladinska Knjiga is the largest publishing house in Slovenia, boasting titles like Harry Potter, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars: we could’t have wished for a better home for this title.

The book follows Manda and Malin, who are 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. When they’re not riding around, they can be found loitering around the convenience store or the library. 

In We’ll Just Ride Past, Strömberg, a perceptive depicter of emotional shifts and relationships, depicts in an equally believable and sharp way the restlessness of teenage, and its bittersweet nature.

Warm congratulations to the author!

We are happy to announce that our children’s book Night Express by Karin Erlandsson has been sold to Ukraine. This is the 10th language territory for the title.

Night Express will be published by The Black Sheep in Ukraine. The Black Sheep was founded in 2015 and it specialises in children’s literature, bringing international titles to Ukrainian readers.

The book follows Dania, whose granny lives in an old station building next to a disused railway. Every year Dania and her family move to their grandmother’s for December in the run-up for Christmas.  

One evening Granny seems exceptionally absent-minded before disappearing from her room. The same night Dania hears something and sneaks out to see it with her own eyes: an express train is pulling up at the station. 

On the train she meets Konrad, and it soon transpires that everyone on the night train has lost someone they love. Will the children find their lost loved ones?

The book is brimming with the magic of Christmas and has 24 chapters: it is also splendid for reading out loud, during Advent and long after.

Warm congratulations to the author!