News

The Book of Misty Trees by award-winning and best-selling author Anja Portin has been sold to Estonia, where it will be published by Uhinenud Ajakirjad, marking the first foreign deal for this title.

Fantastic news for our children’s list: The Book of Misty Trees by Anja Portin, the author of award-winning and international bestseller Radio Popov, is travelling to Estonia where it will be published by Uhinenud Ajakirjad.

The Book of Misty Trees follows Magda Murkbird as she loses her mother in a horrible accident and needs to learn to cope on her own. Luckily, she is not all alone but has Chestnut – the best dog on earth. In fact, it is thanks to Chestnut that Magda has survived unscathed. The two set off on a journey to look for Magda’s aunt she has never met, and on the way they get lost in a mysterious thick fog covering the peak of the Misty Mountain. 

Thus begins an unforgettable adventure in a world governed by Misty Trees, above all the eldest of them, the fountain of all living, the enormous Everbark.  Nothing and no one is what they seem, but will Magda find what she is looking for?

A classic adventure book with a environmentally conscious twist, The Book of Misty Trees takes readers on an epic journey into a new world where people and nature rely on each other to survive and thrive.

Uhinenud Ajakirjad is an Estonian publishing house that is home to many well-loved Finnish books like A Giraffe’s Heart Is Unbelievably Large and Radio Popov.

Warm congratulations to the author, and don’t miss out on this title!

Close Your Eyes, Iris by authors Anna Sofia Urrila, Henna Kaisa Wigren, Kirsi-Marja Zitting and illustrator Virpi Kaarina Talvitie is celebrating its first foreign deal and travelling to Turkey.

Fantastic news for our children’s list: Close Your Eyes, Iris is travelling to Turkey, where it will be published by Hayalkurdu Kitap, a Turkish publishing house specialising in children’s literature.

Close your Eyes, Iris is an easy-to-read book about the fascinating and still largely unknown world of sleep. Many exciting aspects of sleep receive a child-level explanation which will also interest adult readers.

Do also jellyfish sleep, and how, as they don’t have brains or eyes? How can bears sleep all winter? How do sleep and sleeplessness affect the human body? And why is it sometimes really difficult to wake up? Close Your Eyes, Iris answers all these question in an entertaining and clear style, and with adorable and colourful illustrations.

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

Juhani Karila has earned a spot in literature rankings of this year’s best translated works across the English-speaking world. His latest novel has been published in English by Pushkin Press for the UK with the title Summer Fishing in Lapland, and by Restless Books for the US with the title Fishing For the Little Pike.

Stunning news for our author Juhani Karila: his latest novel has taken the English-speaking world by storm and has earned a spot in several rankings of this year’s best translated works. Karila’s novel is out with Pushkin Press as Summer Fishing in Lapland in the UK and as Fishing for the Little Pike with Restless Books in the US.

On the British newspaper Daily Mail, literary critic Jamie Buxton has picked Summer Fishing in Lapland (Pushkin) as the book of the year. Buxton stated as follows: “I loved this off-kilter tale of myth and mundanity — a deep dive into a morass of Finnish folklore and small-town life. A coming-home story and a coming-to-terms story of grief and monsters, as Elina must face down old transgressions to catch a pike and save a life.”

On World Literature Today magazine, Michelle Johnson has featured Karila’s Fishing For the Little Pike in the 75 Notable Translations 2023 list. Karila is in the excellent company of, among others, Nobel-prize winners Annie Ernaux and Jon Fosse, and of fellow Finnish author Pirkko Saisio.

Fishing For the Little Pike also earned a spot on the EuropeNow literary journal, where it is featured in the 2023 Favorite Books in Translation list. Also featured in the list are Jon Fosse’s A Shining, Dino Buzzati’s The Stronghold and Arto Paasilinna’s The Year of the Hare.

Fishing For the Little Pike, which is Karila’s debut novel, has been a literary sensation since its publication in 2019 by Finnish publisher Siltala. The rights have been sold to 17 territories, and the book has been adapted into a theatre play in Finland.

Warm congratulations to the author and the publishers!

The miniseries Hallonbacken, based on the novel The Mystery of Raspberry Hill by Eva Frantz, has made its debut on screen. The book has been a hit domestically, and it has been sold to 8 territories.

Thrilling news for our young readers: the miniseries Hallonbacken (eng. Raspberry Hill), based on The Mystery of Raspberry Hill by Eva Frantz has made its debut on the screen last Friday. The miniseries is produced by Söder Films and directed by Saara Cantell, and it will be available for streaming on Yle, the Finnish national broadcasting company, during Christmas time. In addition to the Finnish broadcast, Raspberry Hill will also be available in the rest of the Nordics on the respective national broadcast services.

The Mystery of Raspberry Hill follows Stina, a young girl, as she is sent into a sanatorium to cure her lungs. It’s the 1920s, Stina is used to modest surroundings and the sanatorium looks like a castle straight out of a fairytale. Nothing, however, is at it seems. Stina notices that something weird is afoot, but what is it?

The Mystery of Raspberry Hill is crime author Eva Frantz’s first children’s book – a suspenseful horror story for middle grade readers. It starts a series of stand-alone horror novels set in early 20th century that take their young readers on a journey back in time. The book was awarded the Runeberg Junior Prize in 2019, and it has been sold to eight territories.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the team working on this beautiful adaptation!

Marisha Rasi-Koskinen is on tour in France to celebrate the French edition of her latest novel REC, published by Payot & Rivages.

Great news from our author Marisha Rasi-Koskinen: she is currently on tour in France to celebrate the French edition of REC, her latest novel, published in France by Payot & Rivages.

Rasi-Koskinen will be attending literature-focused events organised by FILI and the Finnish embassy in France. With her are fellow Finnish authors Pajtim Statovci and Maria Turtschaninoff, also presenting their work.

Rasi-Koskinen’s REC is a big novel about friendship and love, power and boundlessness, a travel book and a documentary, a fiction about fiction where stories and reality constantly take on new angles in new hands. In REC, we follow Lucas A, an ordinary boy with an ordinary life until he becomes special. It happens when everything begins for the first time, and everything begins when he meets Cole. Many beginnings and endings later, Lucas travels for the first time to the city where his story began. Someone is dead, someone has vanished, and Lucas travels to find answers, of course, but it doesn’t work like that. He finds new questions, his story connects with other stories.

REC has been awarded the Runeberg Prize and it also traveled to Denmark, where it is published by Jensen & Dalgaard.

Best of luck to Marisha on her tour, and don’t miss out on this title!