News

Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has been nominated for the Runeberg Prize, the second largest and most prestigious award in Finland.

Pirkko Saisio‘s newest novel Suliko has been nominated for the Runeberg Prize.

Saisio, the author of  the globally successful Helsinki Trilogy, has returned to the literary scene with Suliko, 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. 

Suliko is a raw, poetic portrayal of a dictator and a political era, and a show of strength from a world-famous author.

The Runeberg Prize is a 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 Prize. The prize, worth 20,000 euros, is given out in two categories: fiction and children’s books. Previous winners included our very own Marja Kyllönen with The Undeparted, and before that to Marisha Rasi-Koskinen with REC and for children’s fiction to Karin Erlandsson with The Night Express.

Warm congratulations to the authors, and fingers crossed!

Forest Field Notes by Johanna Venho & Sanna Pelliccioni (ill.) is travelling to Oceania, where it will be published by Oratia, who have acquired the English and Polynesian language (Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, Māori, Niuean, Rapa Nui, Rotuman, Samoan, Tahitian, Tokelauan, Tongan) rights.

Forest Field Notes is a tender, magical story of the forest. It pays tribute to the imagination that can be awakened by nature. With Johanna Venho‘s poetic words and Sanna Pelliccioni‘s delicate illustrations, the book gently addresses the importance nearby nature has for children.

Spruce is a little girl who loves spending time in the forest, and is very observant: she sees trees, plants, flowers, but she has also seen elves, forest trolls, and fawns. All of her sightings and her experiences in the woods are collected in her field notebook.

One day she learns that her forest has been zoned, and will be cut down. Spruce decides to fight back, and starts tying notes to trees in protest. Suddenly, she finds an ally in a mysterious boy with green eyes and twigs in his hair. Who is the boy? And can they save the forest together?

Oratia is a publishing house based outside of Auckland, New Zealand specialized in high-quality children’s books in English and Maori, and fiction and historical non-fiction for adults. Their list prides in being inclusive, colourful, and carefully curated.

In Finland, Forest Field Notes is published by Teos.

Warmest congratulations to the authors and the publishers!

Julia Thurén, the author of Everything You Need To Know About Consumerism, has been awarded the Sininen Pallo Environmental Prize.

The Sininen Pallo (Blue Globe) Environmental Prize 2024 was awarded on December 4, 2024, to three initiatives and individuals targeting overconsumption in distinct ways. Thurén was awarded in her capacity of creator of the Five Garment Challenge, a popular challenge that encourages people to buy a maximum of five new garments per year.

Julia Thurén s a journalist and nonfiction author with a background in political science. She writes the popular blog Juliaihminen, which downright revels in issues of money and equality, and contributes to newspapers and magazines on topics related to finances and money management. She is regareded as a prominent voice in Finland on the subjects of consumerism, environmentalism, and financial education.

Her Everything You Need To Know About Consumerism work was nominated for the 2021 Tieto-Finlandia Prize, Finland’s premiere literary award for works of nonfiction.

Congratulations to the author!

The Thirteen Symphonies of Viktor Stanislaus by Anna-Liisa Ahokumpu is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.

Lovely news for one of our backlist gems: The Thirteen Symphonies of Viktor Stanislaus by Anna-Liisa Ahokumpu is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.

In The Thirteen Symphonies of Viktor Stanislaus by Anna-Liisa Ahokumpu (Gummerus, 2018) we follow Max Halma, a butterfly collector whose life is disrupted by his mother’s death: among her things, he finds a rare butterfly, that could bring him greater success than ever before, but also documents about his late father, who supposedly died a week after his birth in 1942.

Max is intrigued, and finds himself led to archives in Northern Finland and then a pianist’s last concert in Hamburg, until the truth is finally revealed.

Author Anna-Liisa Ahokumpu’s tender first novel is like an enigmatic concert from a family’s life: obsessions, family secrets and voices that should not be silenced. The book was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, given to the best debut novel of the year, for the Botnia Prize, and the Lapland Literature Prize.

Author Anna-Liisa Ahokumpu (b. 1984) made her debut as novelist with The Thirteen Symphonies of Viktor Stanislaus. In Finland, her production is published by Gummerus.

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, Laura Lindstedt and Sinikka Vuola‘s 101 Ways To Kill Your Husband, and Kari Hotakainen’s Pearl.

Congratulations to the author and the publisher!

The Bee Pavillion by Leena Krohn is travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.

Leena Krohn‘s production continues to enchant readers and publishers everywhere: The Bee Pavillion is now travelling to Hungary, where it will be published by Polar.

The Bee Pavillion is a building of stories: it is the former support center for the psychically ill, and one of the few old buildings left in the city. It is also the headquarter of a number of peculiar associations, including the Fluctuating Reality Club. The members of the club transform reality on the daily, and the smallest things can trigger shifts and changes. In Finland, it is published by Teos.

Leena Krohn is one of Finland’s most prolific and established voices. Her production explores the unusual, the absurd, and reflects on the line dividing ordinary from weird, and sane from insane.

Polar is a Hungarian publishing house specialising in literature from the Nordics. Their list includes some of Finland’s most prominent contemporary authors, and is the home of among others Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, A Wooden Prayer by Antti Hurskainen, and 101 Ways to Kill Your Husband by Laura Lindstedt & Sinikka Vuola.

Congratulations to the author and the publishers!