Czech rights to Iida Rauma’s Destruction sold

Iida Rauma’s Destruction, the winner of Finlandia Prize 2022, is travelling to the Czech Republic, where the book will be published by Argo. This is the 4th language territory for the title.

Destruction by Iida Rauma quickly caught critics’ and readers’ attention when it came out in 2022 thanks to its combination of a strong and captivating literary voice, an impressive thematic depth and the ability to bring to the fore a social issue often overlooked: how children are treated in society. In Destruction, Rauma turns the spotlight onto violence in schools, but builds the theme into even bigger issues: how the strong always tend to exercise their power on the weaker ones.

The book follows A, a young teacher and bullying survivor, whose past catches up with her during a nightly jog around the city of Turku. A familiar figure triggers a series of memories and events that take A on a deep dive into the personal destruction she escaped, into the collective destruction suffered by her city in the past, and the one suffered by our planet’s ecosystem right now.

Destruction (Hävitys, Siltala 2021)

According to Turun Sanomat newspaper, the novel is “a dazzling demonstration of art’s potential to expose societal structures”.

Destruction has been previously sold to Rámus in Sweden – where the Swedish edition was received with rave reviews and extensive coverage – to Jensen & Dalgaard in Denmark and to Magvető in Hungary. In Finland, it is published by Siltala.

Argo is a major Czech publisher with a broad selection of high-quality domestic and international fiction. They are the Czech publisher of, among others, Umberto Eco, Kazuo Ishiguro, Leïla Slimani, Margaret Atwood, Peter Høeg and Sally Rooney.

Warm congratulations to the author and the publisher!

The Smuggler’s Treasure travels to Denmark

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng (ill.) is travelling to Denmark, where it will be published by Bogoo.

The Smuggler’s Treasure by Axel Åhman & Ola Skogäng (ill.) is starting its journey out into the world and travelling to Denmark, where it will be published by Bogoo.

The Smuggler’s Treasure (Smugglarens skatt, S&S 2024)

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, published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.

Bogoo is a new Danish publishing house specialising in practical non-fiction and entertaining children’s and YA literature.

Congratulations to the authors and the publisher!

Beasts of the Sea travels to Slovakia

Beasts of the Sea is now travelling to Slovakia, where it will be published by Slovart, marking 27 language territories for this title.

Beasts of the Sea (Elolliset, S&S 2023)

Iida Turpeinen‘s Beasts of the Sea, the hot book of 2023, is continuing its journey out into the world: it is now travelling to Slovakia, where it will be published by Slovart.

Beasts of the Sea is a literary achievement and a breathtaking adventure through three centuries. Approaching natural diversity through individual destinies, it’s a story of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what humankind in its ignorance has destroyed. Steller’s sea cow, a sirenian lost to extinction centuries ago, is revived on the pages and is the red thread that ties together the individual fates of a group of people throughout the centuries.

The novel is the winner of The Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, the best debut award, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, and a nominee for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, as well as for the Torch-bearer Prize. Its international breakthrough has been acknowledged for example by the Bookseller and its foreign rights have been sold to 26 territories all over the world. The German edition, out with Fischer, is a current hit in Germany, and its French edition by Autrement has been welcomed with rave reviews on French media, including on the newspaper Liberation.

Iida Turpeinen (Photo: Susanna Kekkonen)

In Finland, Beasts of the Sea is published by Kustantamo S&S, part of Schildts & Söderströms and it has already sold 50.000 copies in Finland alone.

Iida Turpeinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based literary scholar currently writing a dissertation on the intersection of the natural sciences and literature. As an author, she is intrigued by the literary potentials of scientific research and by the offbeat anecdotes and meanderings from the history of science. 

Slovart is a Slovak publishing house active since 1991. It focuses on providing a broad selection of high-quality literature to the Slovakian public and is the Slovakian home of, among others, Ian McEwan, Camilla Läckberg, and Gabriel García Màrquez.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Ellen Strömberg’s We’ll Just Ride Past travels to the Faroe Islands

Ellen Strömberg’s We’ll Just Ride Past, the winner of the August Prize 2022, is now travelling to the Faroe Islands, marking six language territories for the title.

Author Ellen Strömberg

We’ll Just Ride Past by Ellen Strömberg is continuing its journey into the world and it is now travelling to the Faroe Islands, where it will be published by Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags, marking the sixth language territory for this YA title which is the winner of the August Prize 2022.

We’ll Just Ride Past won the August Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in Sweden, in 2022 and its rights has already been sold for ItalianKoreanSlovenian, Polish and Catalan. 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.

We’ll Just Ride Past (Vi ska ju bara cykla förbi, S&S 2022)

Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags is the Faroese Teachers’ Association’s Publishing Company, and it specializes in children’s and YA literature. Bókadeild Føroya lærarafelags, founded in 1956, publishes about 80 books a year and strives to bring high-quality literature to the Faroe from all over the world: it is the Faroese home of, among others, the Harry Potter series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!

The Thick of the Forest sold to Croatia

Linnea Kuuluvainen’s dystopian debut The Thick of the Forest is travelling to Croatia, where it will be published by Hangar 7.

Author Linnea Kuuluvainen

The Thick of the Forest by Linnea Kuuluvainen, one of this year’s strongest debuts, has begun its journey into the world and is travelling to Croatia, where it will be published by Hangar 7.

The Thick of the Forest is set in a near future where nature has started fighting back against humanity, destroying the world as we know it. To escape nature’s vengeance and isolate themselves from it as well as they can, people have fled to small city-states surrounded by walls. One of them is the former city of Turku, where a tightly guarded Nation has been established. Ingrid grew up in this new world, and has lived all her life in the Nation. After her mother’s death, she gets a job with a research group called Wild Rosemary, whose task is to map the conditions outside the walls of the Nation. Although the forest has been pacified, it is still angry and dangerous, and soon there is discord among the researchers as well. 

The Thick of the Forest (Metsän peitto, Gummerus 2024)

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. 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 has been welcomed with glowing reviews by Finnish critics and media.

Hangar 7 is a Croatian publisher with a focus on high-quality spe-fi and fantasy literature. They are the Croatian home of, among others, Christelle Dabos, Terry Pratchett, and Brandon Sanderson.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!