News

October, the month of book fairs and long, hectic workdays is coming to an end, which can only mean one thing: it’s Halloween, the spookiest holiday of the year!

This is an excellent time to dive into some good literature where the fantastical, the mythical, the absurd, and the spooky creep in. If you’ve already read all our backlist and are familiar with our literary horror titles, our middle-grade mystery and horror books, then you’re in luck because this Halloween readers can enjoy an unprecedented English translation of one of internationally best-selling author Juhani Karila‘s short stories from his collection The Death of the Apple Crocodile.

The short story is called Game Land, and it is available in an English translation by Lola Rogers on World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture.

Shakespeare famously said in Romeo and Juliet that “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet” but in Game Land not calling Her Highness the Lovely Princess Rose with her correct title sets in motion a series of absurd and fantastical events in a Finnish school, which is turned overnight into a luxury casino, Game Land.

You can read the full story here.

And you can find more about Juhani Karila and his authorship here.

Congratulations to the author and thank you to World Literature Today for the feature!

Beasts of the Sea is travelling to Iceland, where it will be published by Benedikt.

Iida Turpeinen’s Beasts of the Sea continues its global triumph: Benedikt has acquired the rights in Iceland, marking 28 foreign territories for this wildly successful title.

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 Book Beat Newcomer Award, The Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, the best debut award, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, the Storytel award, 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.

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. 

Benedikt is an Icelandic publishing house with a broad and high-quality selection of domestic and translated works. They are the publisher of Jón Kalman Stefánsson and Au∂ur Ava Olafsdóttir, and the Icelandic home of Tove Ditlevsen, Sally Rooney, and Elena Ferrante, among others.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!

Storytel has acquired Ann-Christin Antell’s Christmas at the Cotton Mill, a festive short story collection.

Icelandic readers rejoice: Ann-Christin Antell‘s Christmas at the Cotton Mill is travelling to Iceland, where it will be published by Storytel.

Christmas at the Cotton Mill is a festive collection of short stories set in the same fictional world as the successful Cotton Mill trilogy, which follows three generations of the Barker family throughout the decades.

Christmas at the Cotton Mill follows each of the three generations giving readers new insight into their family life, Christmas traditions, and backstory. In Loviisa’s Christmas, the first short story, we follow Jenny’s aunt Loviisa as she is waiting for her husband’s return and is faced with the choice between doing the right thing and helping a woman in need, who has been shunned by society, or doing the respectable thing and siding with the rest of the community. Thankfully, both a happy ending and a cheerful Christmas are in the cards.

In Christmas at the Örndahl Ironworks Martta Barker is a teenager spending Christmas with her foster parents Jenny and Frederik. She has a crush on one of the local young men, Anton, and hopes he will ask her to dance at the Christmas party, but things take an unexpected turn when her little brother falls through the ice into the river. Is their Christmas ruined? Or can tiding of comfort and joy still reach them?

In Christmas at the Falke Castle it is 1939 and Paula Falke (née Barker) is charged with planning Christmas for the whole family and the workers of the factory while her husband is fighting at the front. A happy ending seems impossible, but hope springs everlasting and the Falke family is in for a joyful Christmas after all.

Storytel is publishing in Icelandic the Cotton Mill trilogy, and is thrilled to continue with Antell’s production. In Finland, Christmas at the Cotton Mill is published by Gummerus.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!

The accolades keep rolling in for Beasts of the Sea: the title has been awarded the Book Beat Newcomer Award for the best debut of the past year on their platform. The award is given to the most listened title with the best reader reviews.

The Book Beat statements highlights that “Beasts of the Sea has charmed readers and listeners throughout the entire year. […] The reader of the audiobook is Marcus Bäckman.”

Author Iida Turpeinen has commented as follows:

“I’m happy and impressed with every listener, who followed along with enthusiasm the story of the sea cow. A particularly warm thank you to Markus Bäckman, whose insightful reading brought the book to life with a skill and sensibility that I can’t help but admire. A warm thank you for this fantastic recognition”

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 an international hit, already sold to 27 language territories, and has been celebrated as the hot book of 2023.

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. 

Warmest congratulations to the author!

Radio Popov by Anja Portin has enchanted Korea: the Korean edition, published by Dasan Books, has been welcomed with great success, and has been featured on the Korean School Library Journal. The reading public and booksellers have also welcomed the book favourably, and a book shop has organised a Radio Popov-themed evening with readings from the book and snacks consisting of Finnish apple pie.

Radio Popov is one of the greatest successes as far as Finnish children’s books go: it won the Finlandia Prize upon its release, and has already travelled to 25 language territories.

In it, we follow nine-year-old Alfred, who lives virtually alone. His mother has disappeared long ago, and his father, who stays away on business trips, doesn’t always seem to remember that Alfred exists. One night, Alfred sets off in the company of the mysterious Sneak, who puts things through letter- boxes – not just newspapers, but apples, woollen socks and sandwiches. Thus begins an unforgettable adventure that changes everything, and not just for Alfred. Sneak turns out the eccentric Amanda Lehtimaja, a paperwoman who is one of the Sharp Ears. At Amanda’s home Alfred finds an old radio transmitter designed by a Russian physicist, A. S. Popov. He starts making a secret, nightly radio broadcast that all the other forgotten children in the city listen to.

But how can Amanda and Alfred help the children, and what will Alfred’s father do when he notices that his son is gone? And who exactly are the Sharp Ears?

Radio Popov is an exciting and humorous, warm-hearted story that brings to mind the most beloved classics of children’s literature, like the novels of Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren, and it has established itself as a contemporary classic.