Despite the chaos caused by the pandemic, children’s literature has been doing extremely well all around the world – and it continues to be so!
The Secret Life of Farts (2019)
We are thrilled to announce new foreign rights sales for the hilarious children’s verse book The Secret Life of Farts written by Malin Klingenberg and illustrated by Sanna Mander: French and German rights were acquired by Helvetiq in Switzerland!
Helvetiq is a quality publisher for which the design and humour are extremely important in the books – no wonder Klingeberg’s & Mander’s brilliant cooperation immediately caught their eye!
The sale makes it 8 foreign languages for this title altogether. Not long ago, the English edition came out in the UK, published by Pushkin Press and translated by Annie Prime.
Sincere congratulations to the authors and all the lucky readers!
We are extremely thrilled to announce that UK publisher Dedalus is acquiring the World English rights for the first two books in Karin Erlandsson’s fantasy series for the middle-grade readers The Song of the Eye Gemstone!
The captivating four-part series depicts a kingdom of stories, where the most powerful tale is the legend of the Eye Gemstone, the largest pearl of them all. But it is also an account of friendship, guts and longing – and how sometimes you have to travel far in order to discover that what matters most is close by.
Dedalus is a British publisher with almost forty years of publishing history, specialising in “its own distinctive genre, where the bizarre, the unusual, the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction which is very European.” Erlandsson’s books will be published as a part of Young Dedalus series.
We are continuing the beloved interview series with HLA authors, that help the readers to know the titles and authors even better! This month, the Torch-Bearer Prize winner Marisha Rasi-Koskinen talks about the importance of structure and art in her novel REC and the way of turning photographs into words. And of course, a cherry on the top – the popular questionnaire! You can find the interview here.
The shortlist for the prestigious Runeberg Prize was announced today, and we are thrilled to see two of our authors among the nominees!
The Woman Who Loved Insects (2020)
The Woman Who Loved Insects by Selja Ahava tells a story about a woman called Maria, who becomes fascinated with insects at a young age. It being the 17th century, people are restricted by societal and moral norms. But with the passage of time the world changes, and religion finds a competitor in science. The novel shows a woman breaking out of her narrow role, gaining a voice and authorship, together with the right to ponder the mystery of the origin of life. The Woman Who Loved Insects is, above all, a story of a person following her own path and passions, despite the obstacles set in her way by the era.
Selja Ahava is an author of four books. Her second novel, Things That Fall from the Sky, won the EU Prize for Literature in 2016, was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and the Torch-Bearer Prize, and has been sold to 24 territories, making Ahava one of the most internationally successful Finnish authors of all times.
REC (2020)
REC by Marisha Rasi-Koskinen is an atmospheric, post-modern dive into the fragmented reality we are living today. When teenager Lucas meets a peculiar boy named Cole, it is a start of a decades-long on-and-off friendship, where real and fictional characters are present simultaneously, where images and stories begin many times, in various places, and where dark, possessive and manipulating side of humans take over with irrevocable outcomes – unless… nothing is true. As the author herself describes the book, “it is a love letter to fiction”, where the reality is not unambiguous and the understanding of it is rather formed in people’s minds, stories and images.
Marisha Rasi-Koskinen has published six works of fiction. In 2019, her first YA book The Dark Side of the Sunwon the most prestigious literary prize of the year, Finlandia Junior, and novel REC was recently awarded The Torch-Bearer Prize.
Runeberg Prize is a prestigious literary prize named after the Finnish national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg. It is one of the most important literary awards in Finland, second only to Finlandia Prize. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, is given out in two categories: fiction and children’s books. This year, 8 nominees were shortlisted from 246 submitted adult fiction titles. The winner will be announced on The Runeberg’s Day, the 5th of February2021.
We are so excited to announce that Estonian rights for this year’s Finlandia Prize winner, Anni Kytömäki’s novel Margarita has now been sold to Ühinenud Ajakirjad!
Margarita (2020)
The novel, also longlisted for the prestigious Runeberg Prizeand named among the most interesting Finnish books published this year, tells a story about a post-war country that is not unlike the one of today. The birth rate is low, and women are blamed and shamed for their personal choices. The increase of the economical welfare is at odds with protecting forests and environment in general. On top of all, deadly diseases are spreading, putting the people in danger and fear for their future.
This is the first foreign rights sales for Kytömäki, and we are expecting more offers soon! Author’s debut novel Goldheart (2015) was nominated for the Finlandia Prize and Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, and it was awarded Gummerus’ Kaarle Prize. Goldheart also received the Torch-Bearer Prize, given to the Finnish title with the most potential to succeed abroad, and it won the bloggers’ best book of the year award, Blogistanian Finlandia. In 2017, Kytömäki published the bestselling and critically acclaimed Stone Weaver.
