News

Ellen Strömberg has been awarded the Grandberg-Sumelius Prize for No Beginning No End by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland.

More happy news: author Ellen Strömberg has been awarded the Grandberg-Sumelius Prize by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland for her latest novel, No Beginning No End. The jury have motivated their choice so:
“In the borderland between reality and the paranormal Strömberg puts together an elegant dramatic arc about boyhood, friendship, and the excitement of first love. Thematic depth of otherness, body shame, and grief are created with narrative lightness. The summer adventure in the archipelago stimulates the desire to read for both young and adult readers”.

In No Beginning No End Benjamin is fourteen and he’s been dragged along on his father’s work trip to the coast, where a team of archeologists is digging up local artefacts. It is their first summer after Benjamin’s mother’s death, and Benjamin is sad and lonely, until he meets Tristan Sandvik, a local and mysterious boy.

The two quickly develop a strong bond, but soon more mysteries pop up: what was the real purpose of the stone-lined labyrinths found on the island where Dad is researching? Why do the townspeople dislike Tristan and his family so much? And why does a portrait strikingly resembling Tristan date back to the 1800s?

Strömberg’s novel is a strong return to YA literature after the success of We’ll Just Ride Past, which won the August Prize in 2022 and has already travelled to six territories. This time, the author explores the themes of first love, self-acceptance, and loss in a humorous style and on the atmospheric background of a Nordic summer with touches of fantasy. In Finland Ellen Strömberg’s works are published by Schildts & Söderströms.

Warm congratulations to the author!

The English edition of Secret Gardeners by Lina Laurent & Maja Hurme (ill.), out with Pajama Press, has been turning heads and collecting enthusiastic reviews. This lovely title, which follows a group of children who start a no-dig garden in the city and solve a mystery on the side, has been featured in reviews on literature blogs and literature-related youth services from the English-speaking world.

The Massachussets-based Youth Services Book Review has reviewed the book stating: “With lovely illustrations and a magical blend of nonfiction and fictional mystery, this book is a winner!”
The US-based YA & Kids Books Central, considered one of the largest independent professional book recommendation sites, has commented: “Secret Gardeners is a multi-layered story about three children who help form and protect a community garden. […] The warm colored pencil-crayon illustrations are gorgeous. There is so much diversity shown on the pages, kids will have a fun time pointing things out.”
The prestigious US-based literary magazine Kirkus Reviews has called the book ” a nimble combination of mystery, activism, and gardening instruction.“
The Canada-based Storytime with Stephanie literature blog, specialised in quality literature for youth has enthusiastically reviewed Secret Gardeners as “part fiction, part non-fiction and the perfect story for readers who want to heal the Earth.”
The US-based literature magazine School Library Journal called the book “A solid introduction to gardening told through story and extremely well-presented facts. Highly recommended.”

With Secret Gardeners children learn about seeds, microbes, compost and bokashi, carbon sequestration in soil, harvesting and beekeeping – and about no-dig gardening. The book is designed for information-hungry children between 6 to 10 years of age, to be read with an adult who also is keen to take up city gardening. Written by journalist and beekeeper Lina Laurent, and illustrated by award-winning illustrator Maija Hurme, Secret Gardeners follows three friends – Luna, Bianca and Billy – who have discovered a secret garden hidden behind a rickety fence and an abandoned house. There, the children become urban farmers, with the help of Amy who seems to be planting seeds everywhere. Bringing the garden back to life, also the secret of the house starts to unravel.

The foreign rights have already been sold for English, Czech, Estonian, and Romanian.

Congratulations to the authors, and don’t miss out on this title!

The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has been awarded the Runeberg Junior Prize. The book has marked Malin Klingenberg’s debut in the fantasy genre.

Wonderful news for our children’s list: The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has won the Runeberg Junior Prize. This is the second Runeberg Prize for Klingenberg, already awarded for The Fantastic Alfredo.

The award is special for the fact that the winner is voted by children readers themselves.
The preliminary jury have chosen the book stating:

“[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 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 where one day children start disappearing. Afraid they’ll be next and suspecting their father may be involved, the two girls try to sneak away and meet another tribe, whose leader claims to have known their mother. The members of the other tribe believe in magic and claim that their mother, too, had magical powers. Could it be that their father has been hiding from them even more than they thought? And can the sisters stand up for what’s right and reveal the secrets from their past?

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. The book is illustrated by Eeva Nikunen and the Finnish edition is translated from Swedish by Outi Menna.

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. The Sisters of the Desert marks her fantasy debut, proving she can successfully add one more genre to her impressively polyhedric production. Her works are published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.

The 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. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, is given out in two categories: fiction and, since 2017, children’s books. 

Warmest congratulations to the author!

Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Runeberg Prize. This is the first Runeberg win for Saisio, who is celebrating 50 years of authorship this year.

Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has won the Runeberg Prize which, named after the Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, is considered the second largest literary prize in Finland. This marks the first Runeberg Prize win for Saisio, the grand dame of Finnish literature and international literary sensation, who is celebrating 50 years of authorship this year.

The jury have motivated their choice as follows:
“The winner of this year’s Runeberg Prize is a raw and poetic portrait of one of world history’s most notorious tyrants. Despite its historical context the novel also tells about us and the world we now live in. With her deft touch, focused and crystal-clear, the author captures both the boundless evil of the human soul and its vulnerability. A masterpiece.”

Suliko is a lyrical and intense novel where a disillusioned dictator reflects on his life on a cold New Year’s Eve. The only thing that seems to bring him comfort is Suliko, a song from his youth that has become a leitmotif throughout his entire life. The novel slips into flashbacks, describing how his idealism turned into something completely different, and the events flash him by until he can hardly recognize himself. Focusing on the dictator himself and on the lives of the people who stood close to him or stood in his path throughout his rule, Suliko is a raw, poetic portrayal of a dictator and a political era, but also a show of strength from a world-famous author.

The Runeberg Prize is one of the most important literary awards in Finland, second only to Finlandia. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, is given out in two categories: fiction and, since 2017, children’s books. 

Pirkko Saisio (b.1949) is an author in a league of her own on the Finnish literary scene: with a production ranging from plays to novellas, to historical novels, and all the way to autofiction before the term was coined. Saisio has reached a stage in her career where she has established herself as a modern classic in a way that is unique in the Finnish literary scene: her early works are enjoying global success, and her more recent works continue to speak to several generations, making her production timeless. These are just some of the motivations for which she was recently awarded the Vartio Award for her authorship and life’s work.

Saisio’s Helsinki Trilogy is now a part of world literature: praised in the German-speaking world and received with wide critical acclaim in the French-speaking world and the Netherlands, among others, the trilogy also made Saisio the first contemporary Finnish author whose production will be included in the Penguin Modern Classics.
In Finland, her works are published by Siltala.

Previous Runeberg winners on our list include Marja Kyllönen’s The Undeparted, Marisha Rasi Koskinen’s REC, Karin Erlandsson’s Night Express, Eva Frantz’s Raspberry Hill, Marjo Niemi’s The Mother of All Losses, Karin Erlandsson’s The Pearl Fisher, and Malin Klingenberg’s The Fantastic Alfredo.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Heir to the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell is running for the Storytel Awards in Sweden. Antells’s latest work, Christmas at the Cotton Mill, is also running for the Storytel Awards in Finland.

Wonderful news for our romance readers: Heir to the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell, in translation by Mattias Huss, is running for the Storytel Awards in Sweden, in the category best novel. The nomination is based on the most listened to and highest rated titles on Storytel in 2024. You can find the nominee list, and vote for the book, here.

Heir To the Cotton Mill is the second instalment in the Cotton Mill Trilogy by Ann-Christin Antell. In it, Martta, Jenny’s foster daughter, returns to Turku after studying in Stockholm for years. She finds the city profoundly changed, and so is she: born to a working class family who lived in poverty, Martta has now become part of a wealthy and powerful family, and she struggles to find her place in the world and her social identity. To make matters even more complicated, she meets her childhood friend Juho after many years, and is drawn to him. At the same time she is also introduced to the dandy Robert, who welcomes her into the Turku social circles, and is attracted to him, too. Troubles lie ahead but thankfully a happy ending is in the cards.

The Cotton Mill Trilogy has been a wonderful success in Finland, where it sold over 200.000 copies, and the foreign rights have already been sold to five territories. Antell’s latest work, Christmas at the Cotton Mill, is also running for the Storytel Awards in Finland.

Antell’s works are published in Finland by Gummerus. In Sweden, they are published by Storytel.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher, and fingers crossed!