Finlandia Prize winners ring in the holiday season!

Finlandia xmas newsletter 2014This holiday season has provided plenty of cause for celebration: in November author Jussi Valtonen was awarded the Finlandia Prize, the country’s highest-profile literary award, for his novel They Know Not What They Do (Tammi 2014). The book has become a mega-bestseller, with 100,000 copies printed this fall!

Please contact the Agency for an English sample of the novel!

They Know Not What They Do is a mind-blowing work.…it opens new doors into Finnish literature, both in terms of content and in terms of style.”
– Professor Anne Brunila in the Finlandia Prize announcement

Fantasy author Maria Turtschaninoff, meanwhile, was given the Finlandia Junior Prize, given to an outstanding children’s or YA novel, for Maresi (Schildts & Söderströms 2014), Book I in the Red Abbey Chronicles. Earlier this week World English rights to Books I-III the Red Abbey Chronicles were sold to Pushkin Press.

“I was blown away by Maresi, quite simply…I have no doubt that Maresi and The Red Abbey Chronicles as a whole will become classics of the genre.”
– Adam Freudenheim, Publisher and Managing Director, Pushkin Press/Pushkin Children’s Books

Contact the Agency for a full English text of Maresi!

We wish all of our friends, colleagues and publishing partners around the world a restful and enjoyable holiday season!

RIGHTS SOLD: MARESI
Original publisher: FINLAND, Schildts & Söderströms
DENMARK, Turbine
FINLAND, Tammi
GERMANY, Random House/Heyne
ROMANIA, Editura Univers
SWEDEN, Berghs
WORLD ENGLISH, Pushkin Press

Reading material:
The Red Abbey Chronicles

Book I, Maresi:
Full English text
Swedish edition
Finnish edition
Book II, sequel to Maresi:
English synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD: THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO
Original publisher: FINLAND, Tammi

Reading material:
They Know Not What They Do
English synopsis
English sample
Finnish edition

Contact: info@ahlbackagency.com

About author


Jussi Valtonen

Jussi Valtonen (1974) is an author and psychologist from Helsinki. He has studied neuropsychology in the United States and screenwriting in the UK, and has also worked as a science reporter. He has written three novels and a short story collection.

Carried by Wings (Siipien kantamat, Tammi 2007) was given second place in Bonnier’s novel competition, and received a warm reception from both critics and bloggers. In 2014 Valtonen was awarded the Finlandia Prize, the country’s highest-profile literary award, for They Know Not What They Do (He eivät tiedä mitä tekevät, Tammi 2014).

About author


Maria Turtschaninoff

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, winner of the Swedish YLE Literature Prize, winner of the Thank You for the Book Award, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2020-2024), and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize.

Her Red Abbey Chronicles YA trilogy has been sold into 30 languages, while her first adult novel Inherited Land has been sold to 23 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.