News

Hotel Sapiens by Leena Krohn is travelling to Estonia, where it will be published by Loomingu Raamatukogu.

Hotel Sapiens by Leena Krohn is continuing its journey out into the world, and is headed to Estonia, where Loomingu Raamatukogu will publish it.

Leena Krohn has been active since the 1970s, and has since become one of Finland’s most legendary authors, whose writing forms an impressive body of work. Her sly humor and lucid language speak of our existence in very strange realms with courage and intelligence. One of the greatest visionaries in Finnish literature, Krohn’s works have been translated to over 20 languages.

In Hotel Sapiens we follow a group of people who are staying at the hotel, except Hotel Sapiens is also a madhouse, a research station, a training camp and a museum. The guests are kept under observation as carriers of a dire and incurable disease, humanity.

Hotel Sapiens will be published in Estonian as part of Loomingu Raamatukogu, which started its activity in 1957, and publish about 20 paperback books per year. Loomingu Raamatukogu focuses on quality literature from various eras and corners of the world. Their publication is diverse and extensive, and includes novels, collections of short stories and poetry, essays, travelogues, plays and memoirs. 

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

The Anna Glad series by Eva Frantz continues in Denmark, where Gyldendal has acquired the rights to the two final books.

Crime readers rejoice: Gyldendal in Denmark has acquired the rights to the two final books in the Anna Glad series by Eva Frantz. The Anna Glad series by Eva Frantz has been a great success domestically and internationally, having already travelled to Estonia, Germany, Denmark and Norway, and it has peaked this summer with Then Die Contentedly, preceded by You Will Not Take My Child.

In You Will Not Take My Child Tomas, Anna’s partner, is staying home with Gottfrid, their son, and becomes a little too involved in a child custody case that has unexpected ties to the murder investigation that Anna is leading at the police station. Touching on social issues like abuse, children’s rights, and school violence, You Will Not Take My Child was received warmly and paved the way for a great final chapter of the series.

In Then Die Contentedly four women gather to spend an autumn evening together: Krisse, Hannele, Sylvia, and Britt got to know each other at the end of the 1990’s when they sang in the same student choir, and started the tradition of having a girls’ night every summer, with crayfish and snaps on the menu. It is a fancy crayfish party with all needed drinks, and the night is festive. But when day dawns, only two women wake up at the old house: one, Krisse, is dead and another, Sylvia, is missing. Anna Glad is supposed to stay off the case, but her instinct and her curiosity have the best of her, and she’s soon entangled in a complex case held together by a web of lies and blackmailing. Touching on subjects like domestic violence and alcoholism, Then Die Contentedly is a fast-paced detective story with plenty of twists and turns.

Founded in 1770, Gyldendal is the oldest publishing company in Denmark, and it is already the Danish home of the rest of the series.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Pearl by Kari Hotakainen has been sold to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.

Pearl by Kari Hotakainen has begun its journey out into the world, as Polar has acquired the Hungarian rights.

In Pearl, a childless couple’s foraging trip takes an unexpected turn when they run into a confused elderly woman in the woods. From there, everyone’s life becomes bumpier and starts taking unexpected turns. Pearl is a fast-paced and humorous story that approaches tragic things with a warm, moving touch and asks a difficult question: If one loses control of one’s memories and life, what is there left to hold on to? 

Hotakainen, one of the most accomplished and respected Finnish authors, takes the subjects of memory disease, identity and self, and involuntary childlessness and gives them his trademark, humorous and tragi-comic treatment. The publisher took an unprecedented first print run of 35 000 copies and the book has sold close to 10 000 copies in its first weeks out.

Kari Hotakainen has been awarded the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize, Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, the Prix du Courrier International and the Prix Coup de Coeur, amongst others. His first nonfiction book, The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen (2018) is the best-selling Finnish nonfiction work of all time. Hotakainen’s works have sold over 700 000 copies in Finland. 

Polar is a Hungarian publishing house specialised in Nordic literature. It is the Hungarian home of, among others, Iida Turpeinen‘s Beasts of the Sea, Antti Hurskainen‘s A Wooden Prayer, and Laura Lindstedt and Sinikka Vuola‘s 101 Ways To Kill Your Husband.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

Norstedts has pre-empted the Swedish rights to Mirabilis by Anni Kytömäki. This is the second pre-empt in two days for this hot title, already a sensation in Finland.

Mirabilis by Anni Kytömäki has quickly become the hot book of autumn 2024 and has been turning heads at the Frankfurt fair: Norstedts has pre-empted the Swedish rights, marking the second pre-empt in two days for this title, which is already a sensation in Finland, where it sold over 7.000 copies in its first weeks.

Mirabilis is a great novel of journeys and adventure following two generations of outcast women, both of whom share a deep bond with nature. Mirabilis starts out at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, and carries the reader all the way to the 1930s in a journey that stretches from Finland to the Amur, and still further on. Riikka is a young woman of unusual strength, who makes the brave decision of leaving for the Amur on a colonial expedition, and becomes fascinated with a tiger in a way that will mark her forever. Along the way she gives birth to a set of twins, one of whom is a girl, Ella. Unconventional like her mother, and determined to live life on her own terms, Ella becomes an acrobat and brushes with death one too many times. As a result, Ella developed a strong connection to a recently extinct bird, and a strong interest in the scientific discourse around extinction. These ingredients, along with unanswered questions from the past, result in a epic narrative that draws readers in, and that one never wishes to leave.

Anni Kytömäki is one of Finland’s strongest and most-loved contemporary voices. She won the Finlandia Prize in 2020 with Margarita, which sold about 90.000 copies in Finland alone.

Norstedts is one of Sweden’s largest and most established publishers, whose list includes world-class authors like Annie Ernaux, Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, and Colm Tóibín.

In Finland, Mirabilis is published by Gummerus.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publishers!

Amazing news for our illustrators: Linda Bondestam, Marika Maijala, Sanna Mander and Sanna Pelliccioni are among the nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is awarded on a yearly basis to a person or organization for their contribution to children’s and YA literature. The award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council, in memory of world-famous Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.

Linda Bondestam is one of the best-known Nordic illustrators. She has been a candidate for the Finlandia Junior and Astrid Lindgren Prizes as well as the Nordic Council’s Prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature. HLA represents her The Fantastickle Friend, penned by Alexandra Salmela.

Marika Maijala illustrated Million Billion Santa Clauses, which became a hit upon its release and has been sold to 18 language territories, and won the Most Beautiful Book of the Year prize in 2014.

Sanna Mander is the author and illustrator of My Teeny-Tiny Witch, and The Lost Key, and has illustrated The Secret Life of Farts and The Spectacular Book of Princesses. My Teeny Tiny Witch received an honorary mention for the Rudolf Koivu Prize in 2023, and The Secret Life of Farts was an international success, sold to eight territories.

Sanna Pelliccioni is an established Finnish illustrator, who was awarded the Plaque Award at the Bratislava Biennale earlier this year for her illustrations of Sent Across The Sea. Sent Across the Sea is part of a trilogy by Eppu Nuotio & Sanna Pelliccioni presenting historical events through the eyes of children.

Warm congratulations to all four, and fingers crossed!