Author: Chiara

Pirkko Saisio, the grand dame of the Finnish literary and dramatic scene, is continuing to wow the international audience: NZZ am Sonntag is featuring The Lowest Common Multiple (Helsinki Trilogy #1), in German translation by Elina Kritzokat, in its 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list.

NZZ am Sonntag (NZZaS) is a Sunday newspaper that has been published in Zurich since March 2002 and is published by Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Switzerland’s most prominent newspaper.

The review praises the book and the trilogy as follows:

“The trilogy changes perspectives as easily
as it switches between decades. These three books are family history and contemporary political history, sexual self-discovery and artist biography. […] Saisio tells in vivid scenes, in key moments, dreams and reflections, which, often without a point in between, associatively glide into one another, realistic and fantastic, full of reality, self-confident, touching and clever, funny and beautiful.”

The Helsinki Trilogy consists of The Lowest Common Multiple, The Backlight, and The Red Book of Farewells. Pirkko Saisio’s autofictional trilogy carries the reader through the childhood, adolescence and adulthood of a girl who wanted to be a boy and started calling herself “her”, becoming both narrator and protagonist of the story of her life, when she was eight years of age.

The trilogy, a modern classic in Finland, awarded with two Finlandia nominations and one Finlandia Prize win, made Saisio the first living Finnish author to be included in the Penguin Modern Classics.

The trilogy starts with The Lowest Common Multiple (1998). In the beginning of the novel, the main character, “she”, is already a middle-aged mother. When her father dies, things get shoved out of their place. Her memories take her back to her childhood in the 1950s – to a story, which is also about to change.

In the second novel, The Backlight (2000), it is 1968, and the main character is travelling to Switzerland to work in an orphanage. With episodes from her grammar school years, the reader follows her navigating the conflict between a leftist upbringing, Christianity, and her awakening sexuality.

The Red Book of Farewells (2003) starts in the politically turbulent 1970s. The main character begins her studies in the Theatre Academy, falls in love with a woman, and enters an adult life where there are to be farewells every now and then.

The strong themes of the trilogy – the relationship between an individual and the society, sexuality and being queer, and finding your voice – are told in a fragmentary, lyrical style, descriptive of Saisio. As the background, there is Helsinki, changing as the decades go by.

The trilogy is out in German with Klett-Cotta, in French with Robert Laffont, De Geus in Dutch, and will a top title on its release with Host in Czech.

Pirkko Saisio has released a new novel this autumn, Suliko, which is a deep, lyrical dive in the mind of a dictator approaching death. In Finland, it is published by Siltala.

Warm thanks to NZZ for the feature, and congratulations to the author!

Amazing news for our authors: four HLA titles have been nominated for the Adlibris Awards 2024. The winners will be announced on February 5th 2025.

Anni Kytömäki‘s Mirabilis, Merja Mäki‘s Wept Another, Pirkko Saisio‘s Suliko are among the nominees for Adlibris Awards in the category of the best novel of the year. Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng‘s The Smuggler’s Treasure is running as best children’s book of the year. The winner for each category is voted by readers on Adlibris.

Adlibris is a large and popular online bookshop founded in Stockholm and active in Sweden, Finland and Norway. The Adlibris Award ails from the company’s native Sweden, where it was established in 2019, and it is being awarded in Finland for the second year in a row.

Mirabilis, the newest title by Finlandia-winning author Anni Kytömäki has rapidly become a readers’ favourite upon its release: the book sold 5000 copies in two weeks, and over 9.000 so far. Following two generations of outsider women, Mirabilis tells a story of the ties that bind humanity to nature, of great adventure, and of the devastation humanity has inflicted on nature. The protagonist, Ella, is an acrobat who feels death is constantly at her heels, and becomes fascinated with a bird that has recently gone extinct, prompting her to dive into the scientific discourse around extinction, and eventually to reveal a secret from her family’s past. The book was pre-empted by Norstedts and People’s in Sweden and Denmark respectively this autumn. In Finland, Mirabilis is published by Gummerus.

Wept Another by Torch-Bearer winning-author Merja Mäki follows Larja, a young woman from Eastern Karelia. It is 1942, and peace has momentarily descended on this bit of territory recently reclaimed from the Soviets by Finnish troops. Larja has been studying at a teacher training camp and upon her return to her home village she has to come to terms with the fact that nothing is as it was. As a Finnish man enters her life, things complicate even more, and Larja will have difficult choices to make. In Finland, Wept Another is published by Gummerus, and the book has already travelled to Sweden, where it is out with Historiska Media.

Suliko is the latest novel by Pirkko Saisio, the great dame of Finnish literature, and it follows a dictator in the twilight of his life. He thinks back on his life, his choices, and what led him to becoming the man he is. Raw, poetic, and unapologetic, Suliko is a deep dive into the mind of a dictator, but also a reach into the world of myths, and questions of ethos and purpose. Suliko is published by Siltala.

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng follows 12-year-old Oliver, who is spending Advent at his Grandma’s place, on an island in the middle of nowhere. Oliver is extremely bored, until the legend of a local smuggler’s treasure puts him on the tracks of his ancestor Verner Strand. Christmas, adventure, and family secrets make this book the perfect, exciting chapter book for young readers. In Finland, The Smuggler’s Treasure is published by S&S.

Warmest congratulations to the nominees and the publishers, and fingers crossed!

A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large by Sofia & Amanda Chanfreau is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Cerkabella. This is the 17th language territory for this title.

A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large by Sofia & Amanda Chanfreau is continuing its journey out into the world and is now travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Cerkabella.

This is the 17th foreign sale for the title: this stunning story by Amanda & Sofia Chanfreau, where magical realism meets the quest after one’s own origins has been enchanting publishers all over the world since its release and, on top of having sold over 10.000 copies in Finland, it has also won the most important literary award in the country, the Finlandia Junior Prize, in 2022.

This illustrated novel for middle grade readers is a tale of longing to be part of a family, to find one’s place in the world, and to be loved as one is. 

Whenever ten-year-old Vega, who has always lived with her father, tries to ask about her mother, the only answer she gets is mysteries. Once a not-so-nice girlfriend starts dating her father, and Vega gets an unexpected pen pal, she decides to set out on an adventure to find out more about her mother. The book is a superb read for a child alone or for parents and children together.

Cerkabella is a Hungarian publishing house specialising in illustrated books and youth literature. Their publications strive for the highest quality, and since 2007 Cerkabella has launched a line of publication dedicated to the Nordics, with the goal of bringing literature from Northern Europe to the Hungarian audience. They are the Hungarian home of, among others, Radio Popov by Anja Portin.

In Finland, the Chanfreau sisters are published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Warm congratulations to the authors, and don’t miss out on this wonderful title!

Ulla Donner’s The Natural Comedy is travelling to Poland, where it will be published by Kultura Gniewu.

The Natural Comedy by Ulla Donner has started its journey into the international literary scene as its Polish rights have been acquired by Kultura Gniewu. The deal has been brought to us by our Polish co-agents at Book/lab.

The Natural Comedy has been welcomed with warm reviews in both Finland and Sweden and the title is this year’s winner of the Urhunden Prize, Sweden’s most prestigious prize for comics.

In The Natural Comedy it’s autumn, and the leaves have started to fall. One of them, a leaf called Birch, makes a crash landing on a mushroom, Candy, while en route to the Great Autumn Feast. The unlikely duo start a perilous journey through the forest, or rather what is left of it, trying to make it to the party in time. The Natural Comedy is a playful twist on Dante’s Divine Comedy from the perspective of the creatures of a forest that has been destroyed by humans’ exploitation.

As Birch and Candy make their way through the destroyed forest in Dantean fashion, they roam through artificially modified natural reserves, coming across the ancient, grimy Mother Nature, a wellness cult headed by a Kombucha mushroom, as well as other woodland dwellers forced to adapt to their new habitats. 

The characters of the graphic adventure are like urban people: harmony-loving Birch swears by positivity and self-acceptance, woke Candy is committed to improving the world, but only on the terms of its own comfort, and patriotic Slime Mold has its mind set on doggedly pushing through the rock, despite going round it would save years of travelling. 

The Natural Comedy is the third work of Ulla Donner, winner of the Finlandia Comics Prize for Best Graphic Novel in 2020. The sylvan fairytale grows into a hilarious satire about the Finns’ “special” relationship with nature. It is a tale about a society in which nature is subordinate to the human pursuit of profit and in which heaven and hell are only separated by how well each species manages to fit around people’s needs. The author also touches on xenophobia, comical features of young people’s dating rituals, and the societal terror of old age and hagsploitation in her characteristically wry manner. 

Kultura Gniewu is a Polish publishing house specialised in comics for children and adults. They are the Polish home of, among others, Daniel Clowes, Guy Delisle, Robert Crumb, Ivan Brun, and Shaun Tan.

In Finland, The Natural Comedy is published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Warm congratulations to the author and the publishers!

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng (ill.) and The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg are nominated for this year’s Runeberg Junior Prize.

The accolades are rolling in for The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng and for The Sisters of the Desert, the first instalment in the new fantasy trilogy by Malin Klingenberg: both titles are nominated for this year’s Runeberg Junior Prize.

The jury have motivated their choice as follows:

[The Smuggler’s Treasure is] a classical adventure story [that] livens up the quiet archipelago life. The Christmassy red thread carries steadily through the entire story, but despite the fact that it takes place in December the book can be read year-round. The division in chapter is well planned and invites to read one more chapter, and one more, and one more. The atmospheric illustrations complete the story. In a nutshell: a stylish ensemble.

[The Sisters of the Desert by Malin] Klingenberg may be to blame if children are groggy in the morning, because it is difficult to put the book away once one has come into the adventures of sisters Saba and Sarina. The Sisters of the Desert contains all the ingredients of an epic fantasy: friendship, family, supernatural powers, and the fight between good and evil.

The Runeberg Junior Prize is given yearly in two categories – adult fiction and children’s literature – and is often considered to be the most important literary award after Finlandia. The winners are traditionally announced on February 5th, the National Runeberg’s Day.

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.

The Sisters of the Desert is the first instalment in Malin Klingenberg‘s new fantasy trilogy, The Chronicles of Gibat. The Sisters of the Desert follows Sarina and Saba, two sisters whose father is the leader of a wandering desert clan who starts selling the children of the tribe into slavery. Afraid they’ll be next, the two girls try to sneak away and meet another tribe, whose leader claims to have known their mother. Why do the members of the other tribe believe in magic? And could it really be true that their mother, too, had magical powers?

The Sisters of the Desert is a beautiful story of adventure, magic, friendship, and sisterly love in a world where some adults are ruthless and children are left to fend for themselves.

Malin Klingenberg is one of Finland’s most prominent Swedish-speaking authors. Her extensive production, ranging from picture books all the way to YA, has been loved, read, and translated into many languages all over the world. She has recently been awarded the Vanessa Prize for her impressingly polyhedric authorship.

Both works are published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Warm congratulations to the authors, and fingers crossed!