We are continuing our creative literary interviews series with HLA’s writers! Marcus Rosenlund, a weather fanatic and author of the phenomenal nonfiction The Weather that Changed the World, reveals fascinating stories behind the history of climate, its impact to us, humans, and encourages climate hope for the future. Full interview here.
Antti Rönkä’s debut novel Off the Ground was awarded Thank You for the Book Prize 2020!
The prize is given out yearly since 1966, for a book that is considered to have caused the biggest intellectual and/or emotional stimulus to the readers during the past year. The winner is decided upon jointly by The Booksellers’ Association in Finland, Association Libro ry and Finnish Library Association.
As the jury stated:
“Antti Rönkä’s confident debut demonstrates thought patterns of a bullied person that may seem absurd to the outsider, but to the one experiencing them, it is the reality. The unspeakable burden of traumatic experiences are heavy on the reader’s mind. Precise sentences expose things laying underneath the surface in a strong voice, without exaggeration.
(…) The author skilfully portrays various feelings and processes of the mind. The book won’t leave a person unmoved.”
Off the Ground is a powerful debut novel, long-listed for the Runeberg Prize. It describes the experiences of a grown up man starting a new life in a new city, but haunted by memories and traumas of bullying suffered in the past. Earlier this year, World French rights were sold to Payot & Rivages.
Congratulations, Antti Rönkä, and thank you for your extraordinary book!
We are continuing our creative literary interviews series with HLA’s writers! Author of a Finnish literary version of Ocean’s 11 Tuomas Vimma tells about his series, fascinating women and running from a prison guard while doing a research for the book. Read the interview here.
HLA’s new video clip series “Not Too Seriously” has found its audience in social media – now the short and humorous takes can be watched also on our Vimeo account.
When one fair after another was cancelled this spring, we thought to keep the wheels turning in other ways. The result is a series of a few minutes long video presentations, in which the authors answer four questions:
1. What is my book about?
2. Why is my book brilliant?
3. Who especially should read my book?
4. What word I could never pronounce?
The short form turned out to be a success. It only takes a moment to watch them, and yet you get an idea about the book, about the author’s mindset – and sometimes even a laugh.
A warning: addiction guaranteed!
Whilst hearing about books you also see glimpses of Finland. Watch Minna Rytisalo on the snowy hills of Kuusamo, Karin Erlandsson in the Åland harbor, or authors of Woodland, well, in the woods. And it is always a thrill to get a sneak peak to someone’s home office or other places they love.
So far we have had twenty-four authors tell about their books, and there is more to come! Check them out in our Vimeo account here.
You can also follow us in Facebook, Twitter or Instagram: loads of fun things happening there as well!
See you around!
The Danish rights of The Woman Who Loved Insects have been acquired by Jensen & Dalgaard.
Selja Ahava’s novel The Woman Who Loved Insects that will come out in Finnish in August 2020 has been acquired by Jensen & Dalgaard in Denmark.
Ahava’s second novel Things that Fall from the Sky has been a remarkable success, with publishers in 24 countries so far.
The Woman Who Loved Insects is a story of Maria, born in the age of witch trials. She has been fascinated by insects since childhood and begins to draw the metamorphic life cycles of them, as did her historical model, the German naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717).
With the passage of time from one age to another the world changes, and religion finds a competitor in science. The novel shows a woman breaking out of her narrow role, gaining a voice and authorship, together with the right to ponder the mystery of the origin of life. Just as insects undergo a transformation, so over time Maria changes, going on to live for 370 years.