News

The time for the legendary Finnish author Pirkko Saisio to shine abroad has definitely come: after announcing the third pre-empt in a row for Saisio’s autofictional trilogy, we are excited to share the news that Varrak has now acquired the Estonian rights for Saisio’s newest novel, Passion.

Varrak is one of the most prominent publishers in Estonia, with a wide scope of both Estonian and translated quality fiction. It is the publisher of many acclaimed Finnish authors, such as Arto Paasilinna, Elina Backman, Sofi Oksanen, Tomi Kinnunen, Maria Turtschaninoff and Mia Kankimäki, among others.

Passion is a color-saturated, Tarkovskian chronicle of Europe, spanning from the 15th century Florence to present-day Finland. The novel sold ca. 26,000 copies in Finland and was nominated for the most prestigious literary award in the country, Finlandia Prize – the seventh nomination for Pirkko Saisio, more than any other author has received to date.

This is the first foreign rights sale for the novel.

Congratulations to the author!

Helsinki Literary Agency is extremely happy to welcome a new author on its list: Ann-Christin Antell with her bestselling Cotton Mill trilogy comes as a powerful re-enforcement of HLA’s commercial fiction section.

The trilogy could be described as Bridgerton meets L. M. Montgomery – an entertaining page-turner appropriate for a wide reader base. The top-quality historical romance with feminist undertones is enhanced with a witty female lead, a strong focus on manners and class distinction, as well as reflections on national awakening and rising social and political unrest.

The trilogy began with The Shadow of the Cotton Mill, in 2021, depicting the life of an independent woman in an era when industrialists make up the new elite, women demand equality, and Finland’s status as a nation is undergoing a transformation. The book immediately swept the hearts of the Finnish readers: speedily climbing to bestsellers’ lists, the novel sold close to 40,000 copies in Finland altogether.

The second instalment of the trilogy, Heir to the Cotton Mill (2022), picks up the story in the early 20th century, when Finland’s cultural elite, with their strong sense of nationhood, find themselves at odds with Russia’s increasingly oppressive policies. The book has already sold 20,000 copies in Finland.

The third book, A Rival for the Cotton Mill, is due to be published in 2023.

We already have English sample and synopsis of the first novel, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us (info@helsinkiagency.fi) and ask for more information and materials.

Welcome to HLA, Ann-Christin Antell!

The summer started off fantastically for our children’s authors: only a few days after closing the deal in Italy for Vuokko Hurme’s The Hues series, we are thrilled to announce three more deals!

The deals in question will be enjoyed by Eva Frantz, the author of spooky mystery books for the middle grade readers. Her newest novel The Mystery of Helmersbruk Manor has now been sold to Edizioni EL in Italy and Widnokrąg in Poland. Widnokrąg additionally acquired the Polish rights for Frantz’s previous children’s novel, Queen of the Night.

The Polish rights were sold in auction, handled by our partner Book/Lab Agency.

Widnokrąg is an esteemed children’s publisher, established in 2011. It focuses on quality stories for children and has, among others, been nominated for the London Book Fair’s International Excellence Award in 2017. It is the publisher of Timo Parvela, Kaisa Happonen, Anja Portin and many others.

Edizioni EL is a well-known publishing house specialised in books for children aged 0 to nineteen, and the home of the most important works by Gianni Rodari, the only Italian author ever to be granted the international Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Eva Frantz’s children’s novels have been previously sold to the English World, Denmark, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Russia and Spain.

Congratulations to the authors!

The beginning of summer saw a surge of children’s books sales! While still waiting for the outcome of offers in Italy and Poland for Eva Frantz’s spooky stories for the middle grade readers, we closed another lovely deal: Ruby’s Secret, the first book in Vuokko Hurme’s newest four-part series the Hues, has been sold to Italy.

The publisher of Hurme’s books will be MIMebù, a new children’s imprint in Mimesis Group based in Milan.

As all the imprints within the group, MIMebù advocates for free and independent thinking and is determined to publish books that would intrigue and entertain their young readers, as well as encourage them to think.

Ruby’s Secret (2020) is the first instalment in the four-part series about The Hues family, followed by The Many-Coloured Mansion (2021); The Shadow Guest (2022) and The Danger in the Spa of Colours (2022).

This is the first foreign rights sale for the series.

Congratulations to the author!

More wonderful news for our queen of historical fiction, Anneli Kanto, the author of the last year’s sensation The Rat Saint: in the end of May, she was awarded the prestigious Väinö Linna Prize for her lifelong achievements as an author and scriptwriter.

During her career spanning over 15 years, Kanto has written numerous lauded historical novels, as well as children’s books, plays, short stories and TV scripts.

As the award committee has stated, especially Kanto’s novels are “all masterful historical depictions” and her books are always defined by the “proper plot and exhilaratingly rich language”.

Kanto especially rose to national fame last year, with her novel The Rat Saint, which has sold close to 20,000 copies in Finland and has recently been awarded the Blogistania Finlandia Prize and honoured with the Thank You for the Book Prize.

The Väinö Linna Prize is awarded by the City of Tampere. It is given on irregular basis for the achievements in fiction writing. The award sum is 10,000 euros.

Congratulations to the author!