Audioteka has secured the Lithuanian rights to the Cotton Mill series by Ann-Christin Antell in a three-book deal.
Exciting news from our fiction list: Audioteka has secured the Lithuanian rights to the Cotton Mill series by Ann-Christin Antell in a three-book deal. This is the sixth foreign rights deal for this series, with rights previously sold to France, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
Before the Birds by Merja Mäki is running for the Charleston Prize in France, with the winners being announced in late June.
Before The Birds, French edition
The French edition of Before the Birds by Merja Mäki, in translation by Fantine Brunel, is running for the Charleston Prize in France.
The Charleston Prize – Prix Charleston – was established by the publishing house Charleston in 2018. The winners are selected among 8 novels (4 French and 4 translated) from which readers can vote for two novels in each category. Booksellers then choose the winners, one per category, out of the novels selected by readers. Mäki is in very good company, with other nominees being Kim Michele Richardson, Corina Bomann, and Tan Twan Eng for translated fiction and Camille Anseaume, Sandra Martineau, Gabrielle Blanchout and Charlie Wat for French fiction.
Author Merja Mäki
Before the Birds tells the story of Alli, a young girl from Karelia forced to flee her home when Winter War breaks out in 1939. The novel was awarded the Torch-bearer Prize and was a finalist for the Des Racines et des Mots Prize in France. After Before the Birds Mäki published Wept Another, which is also set in Karelia in wartime and is set in the same fictional universe. Both titles have received great praise for their ability to portray the emotional lives of people in wartime and for the warmth and sense of hope they convey, despite the difficult subject. Before the Birds and Wept Another have sold about 50.000 copies altogether, and a third novel is due next year.
Warmest congratulations to the author, and fingers crossed!
Wonderful news for our children’s list: A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell by Tomi Kontio & Elina Warsta has been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.
A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell (Koira nimeltään Kissa hyvästelee ystävän)
A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell is the final volume in a beloved, prize-winning series following a Dog Called Cat and her friends. In A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell Dog, Cat, and Weasel have formed a loving if unlikely family, and spend their days together. Outside, however, spring is at its most beautiful—it’s time to go on a trip. Weasel asks Cat and Dog to accompany him. He advises them, swears them to secrecy, and comforts them: they will never be alone. They have no owner in this world, but they are marked by the love of a friend. A friend who leaves behind only a beautiful, silent memory. A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell offers the courage to mourn and always start over, regardless of the words of silence. It is the moving conclusion to a beloved series. The book was awarded the Finlandia Junior Prize, the largest literary prize in the country, in 2025.
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is a prestigious yearly award founded in 1962 and aiming at fostering interest in the literature and the language of Nordic countries.
Running for the Nordic Council Literature Prize representing Finland is also Gamlingarna by our very own Malin Klingenberg & Maria Sann.
Warmest congratulations to the authors, and fingers crossed!
Epix continues The A Dog Called Cat series by Tomi Kontio & Elina Warsta (ill.) continues securing the rights to books #3-4 and acquires Sent Across The Sea by Eppu Nuotio & Sanna Pelliccioni (ill.)
A Dog Called Cat Looking For a Home (Teos)
Wonderful news for three of our beloved picture books Epix has secured the Swedish rights to A Dog Called Cat Looking For a Home (#3) and A Dog Called Cat and the Wonder of Christmas (#4) by Tomi Kontio & Elina Warsta (ill.). They previously published A Dog Called Cat (#1) and A Dog Called Cat Meets a Cat (#2). Epix also secured the Swedish rights to Sent Across the Sea by Sanna Pelliccioni & Eppu Nuotio, marking a three-book deal.
A Dog Called Cat and the Wonder of Christmas (Teos)
The A Dog Called Cat series is a touching story about finding friendship and the things truly important in life. It tells the tale of a small dog. She is called Cat by her mother, because cats are independent, and the young one must learn to be independent. Soon, Cat realizes, however, that often being independent only means being lonely. But one day things change, and then Cat is not alone anymore. The series then follows the trio of Cat, Weasel, and Dog as they navigate life and find joy and friendship even through hardship. The last volume in the series, a middle grade book titled A Dog Called Cat Says Farewell, won the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2025. The series is published in Finland by Teos.
Sent Across The Sea (S&S 2022)
In Sent Across the Sea by Eppu Nuotio & Sanna Pelliccioni little Heidi is told she must leave home and travel far across the sea. Not all alone, as she is going with her brother. But in a foreign country, Heidi is separated from her brother and forced to live with a grumpy couple. Heidi can’t speak the language of her new aunt and uncle, but she understands they don’t want her to be the way she is. Luckily, Heidi gets to spend a day with her brother and his family. Her brother’s sweater immediately understands that Heidi needs to find a nicer auntie. Based on real memories, Sent across the Sea is the story of a period in Finnish history, when around 80,000 children were evacuated from Finland during the Second World War. In a Europe at war, their story resonates again. For the illustrations in Sent Across the Sea Sanna Pelliccioni has been awarded the Plaque Award by Biennal of Illustrations Bratislava.
Epix is a Swedish publisher specialised in comics and picture books. They are the Swedish publisher of, among others, Riikka Jäntti and Martin Baltscheit.
Warm congratulations to the authors and the publisher!
The Smuggler’s Treasure (Smugglarens skatt, S&S 2024)
In The Smuggler’s Treasure, it’s two weeks till Christmas, and 12-year-old Oliver is stuck at Grandma’s place on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. Christmas preparations at Grandma’s aren’t a lot of fun, until Oliver makes an exciting discovery in the attic: a stack of sea maps, letters, and a mysterious compass that doesn’t point North but enables its holder to follow their heart and always find their way home. It is the beginning of an adventurous treasure hunt at sea that could give Oliver answers not only about the mysterious treasure, but also about the family secrets that have been hidden long ago: what really happened to the owner of the compass, his ancestor Verner Strand? And who are the shady newcomers who seem a little too interested in the rumours about the smuggler’s treasure?
Author Axel Åhman
The Smuggler’s Treasure is a thrilling adventure story for middle-grade readers that just so happens to be set around Christmas time, mixing adventure and holiday cosiness. The book consists of 24 chapters, making it a great way to navigate Advent. It was nominated for the prestigious Runeberg Prize in 2024, and has already traveled to Denmark, where it is out with Bogoo. In Finland, the book is published by S&S.
Author Axel Åhman is also active as a comedian and is a member of the musical group KAJ, that won the Melodifestivalen 2025 and competed in the Eurovision 2025 representing Sweden with the song Bara bada bastu.
Ola Skogäng (b.1974) is a successful Swedish illustrator, author and cartoonist. He was nominated for the Urhunden Award in 2009, and won the Adamson Award the same year.
Emons is a medium-sized independent publishing house. In recent years their books have secured the Premio Strega Ragazzi and a spot on the Premio Andersen shortlist. They are the Italian home of other Nordic authors, including Malin Klingenberg and Matilda Gyllenberg.
Warm congratulations to the publisher and the authors!
