Finnish Literature Exchange FILI supports foreign publishers interested in publishing Finnish literature (including Finland-Swedish and Sámi literature). The publishers can apply for
– a grant for a reader’s report
– a translation grant – a printing grant for children’s illustrated titles, comic books and graphic novels
– a promotional grant to cover the travel costs of the author when the book is published.
Henriikka Tavi’s novel Tellervo has been nominated for Runeberg Prize, often considered to be the second most important literary prize in Finland.
Tellervois a funny, cheeky and slightly awkward story about a woman called Tellervo. She has three university degrees – but she works in a kiosk. She has one friend, no partner, and her inner world is tumultuous – except that she is constantly feeling empty inside.
When Tellervo decides to follow the advice of a self-help love guide, things start to happen. The Runeberg Prize nominations board stated that “on the side of the mischievous smile the novel points out the excessive and sometimes even tragic demands that our culture seems to set for leading a happy life”.
Henriikka Tavi (b. 1978) is a poet who’s first poetry collection Eg. Esa(2007) received the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize. It was followed by the collection Dictionary(2010) and Hope(2011), the latter of which won both the Kalevi Jäntti prize as well as the Dancing Bear Prize, awarded by Yleisradio. In 2012 Tavi published a poetry collection each month in the project by the poetry publisher Poesia, called 12 . Tellervo(2018) is her first novel. Read more about it here.
The cover of Oneworld’s English edition (April 2019).
The Czech language rights of Selja Ahava’s novel Things that Fall from the Sky has been sold to Pavel Dobrovský – Beta in Prague. Czech is the 17th language area to which the rights of the title have been sold.
The English edition of the title, published by Oneworld Publications in the UK, will come out in April 2019.
Things that Fall from the Sky (2015) was awarded with European Union Prize for literature in 2016, and it was nominated for Finlandia Prize and the Torch-Bearer Prize in Finland.
Things that Fall from the Sky is Selja Ahava’s second novel. Her first one, The Day the Whale Swam through London (2010) was a nominee for the Helsingin Sanomat Literary Prize and it won the Laura Hirvisaari Prize (the Booksellers Literary Prize). Ahava’s third novel, Before My Husband Disappears (2017) was one of the most talked-about books in Finland when it came out.
Selja Ahava is published in Finland by Gummerus.
The rights of Things that Fall from the Sky have been sold to the following areas: Albania, IDK Bulgaria, Colibri Croatia, Vuković & Runjić Czech, Pavel Dobrovský – Beta Denmark, Jensen & Dalgaard World English, Oneworld Estonia, Post Factum (Eesti Meedia) Germany, Mare Verlag Hungary, Typotex Latvia, Lauku Avize Lithuania, Homo liber Macedonia, Magor Poland, Relacja Serbia, Štrik Slovenia, KUD Sodobnost International Spanish, Editorial Bercimuel Ukraine, V. Books XXi
Minna Rytisalo’s second novel Mrs. C rose straight to the top-ten bestselling list as it came out in September, first hitting #4 and then rising to #2 in October, the busiest month in Finnish publishing.
Mrs. C is a story of a strong and independent-minded woman who gets her way in an era when the place of a woman was merely attending to the household and the children (read more about the book here).
The novels themes got some extra attention at the Turku book fair in the beginning of October when the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, ended up demonstrating Finnish equality: he was sitting on the stairs of the over-crowded hall listening to the discussion on equality between Rytisalo and the President’s wife, poet Jenni Haukio, and a couple of other panelists.
Rytisalo’s debut novel’s German edition by Hanser (2018): Lempi – das heißt Liebe (‘Lempi – that Means Love’).
Minna Rytisalo’s debut novel Lempi (2016) has gotten a tremendous amount of attention in Finland, selling over 25,000 copies and receiving numerous awards (read more here). The most recent publication of the novel was that of Hanser in Germany, where the book has gotten supreme visibility in the bookstores.
Malin Klingenberg’s young adult novel Elk Girlhas been sold to dtv in Germany. The novel will be published in Reihe Hanser.
Elk Girl is a story of Johanna who is starting the seventh grade. But things aren’t as they were just a few weeks earlier: Johanna’s best friend Sandra is now hanging out with the coolest girls in the class. Johanna doesn’t mind. She is happy with herself as she is and has no need to change her interests to those that would better suit a teenager, like clothes and boys. She wants to be in the forest and watch the wildlife, as she used to do with Sandra.
Malin Klingenberg (Photo: Karolina Isaksson)
Malin Klingenberg, previously known for her hilarious and quirky middle-grade series The Senior Squad, writes in the Elk Girl a story about becoming a teenager in the throe of changes – and of taming an elk.
“Elk Girl takes a firm hold of the confusing and tangled daily life. Humorist Klingenberg ladles out absurdities into the story, like taming an elk with popcorn, but she lets the seriousness shimmer in the background. The result is brilliant.” – Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper
