FILI grants application round has started! 

New Year, New Books!

We wish to inform you that the FILI grants first application round for 2023 started on January 1^st and deadline for the applications is February 1^st.  FILI offers grants to support the translation of Finnish literature. These grants are intended for publishers outside Finland who can apply for a grant to publish Finnish literature in translation if they have acquired translation rights for the work and signed an agreement with a translator. Grants are awarded for translating works of fiction and general non-fiction, children’s and young adult (YA) books, and comics and graphic novels from the Finnish, Finland-Swedish and Sámi languages. Grants are awarded to cover part of the translation cost, on average, 50 to 70 per cent. Read more here: FILI Grants.  See the previously awarded projects here: Fall 2022 FILI Grants

This is the perfect time to acquire new Finnish titles among our bestselling and award-winning books – see some of our hottest titles right now highlighted below, and browse our latest catalogue here:  Ahlback Agency Rights Guide

Sang by Elina Pitkäkangas

An epic novel about love and power in a fictional East Asia of the future!

The first novel in a new fantasy duology by the talented YA writer and TikTok star Elina Pitkäkangas

When a person’s value is determined by money and one’s happiness by family, what will be left when both are ripped away?

The dystopian novel upholds a beautiful and dark atmosphere in the state of Fusang. Sang is an epic story about a youngster trying to fight against the impossible circumstances of a totalitarian state. Kong Dawei joins the rebels, and breathtaking events follow one another. Pitkäkangas’ skill to conjure with believable details a whole world is enchanting. Our choices create a chain which not only joins us together, but also in the end defines who and what we are. Sang is a story about love, but above all it is a story about morale: all the things we are ready to do for one another.”
-Topelius award 2023 jury

Sang
WSOY, September 2022, 496pp
READING MATERIALS:
English sample
Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig. 2-book deal)
DENMARK: Straarup (2-book-deal)
TURKEY: Indigo Kitap

Inherited Land by Maria Turtschaninoff

Following in the tradition of family sagas like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

The roots of man and forest are intertwined in the depths of the earth.

Arvejord (Inherited Land) is a gem of a novel, an ambitious and exquisitely written saga in which the Nevabacka farm is a character in itself, observing from the depths of the forest the intertwined history of a land and of a family. With a magical atmosphere, bigger than life characters and incredibly evocative prose, Maria Turtschaninoff proves to be a talented storyteller and accomplishes an amazing feat by making four centuries of the history of Finland so strikingly alive. The editorial team at Paulsen is delighted to have the opportunity to share this novel with French readers as a highlight in 2023.” –Aurélie Charron and Isabelle Parent, Editions Paulsen, France

INHERITED LAND
ARVEJORD
Förlaget, 2022, 371 pp.
READING MATERIALS:
Swedish edition
English sample and synopsis
RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Tammi (Finnish)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
CROATIA: HENA COM
CZECH REPUBLIC: ARGO
DENMARK: Alpha Forlag
ESTONIA: Rahva Raamat
FRANCE: Éditions Paulsen
GERMANY: Rowohlt
ISRAEL: Hakibbutz Hameuchad – Sifriat Poalim
ITALY: Bompiani
NETHERLANDS: Atlas Contact
NORWAY: Bonnier Norsk Forlag
POLAND: Poznańskie
ROMANIA: Editura Univers
SWEDEN: Förlaget
WORLD ALBANIAN: Shkupi Publishing House
WORLD ENGLISH: Pushkin Press

The Archipelago by Max Seeck

The fourth title in the NYT-bestselling Jessica Niemi series!

Max Seeck’s fourth Jessica Niemi novel is the series’ best: The fourth instalment of the Jessica Niemi series of detective novels is the best to date and proves Seeck’s mastery of the genre’s traditions. MAX SEECK’s earlier novels in the Jessica Niemi series have been impressive, but the series’ fourth book, The Archipelago, is the best to date. This is because it is a seamless and constrained whole that works superbly and also because in this work Seeck imbues his protagonist’s character with new, deeper sides. – ”  –Starred review,  Helsingin Sanomat, Finland

RIGHTS SOLD Max Seeck: Jessica Niemi Series
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
ALBANIA: Muza
ARABIC: Arab Scientific Publishers
ARMENIA: Guitank
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran
BELGIUM, A.W. Bruna
BULGARIA: EMAS
CANADA: Berkley/Penguin Random House
CROATIA: Fokus
CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada
DENMARK: Gutkind
ESTONIA: Pegasus
FRANCE: Michel Lafon
GERMANY: Bastei Lübbe
GREECE: Livani
HUNGARY: Animus
ICELAND: Forlagid
ISRAEL: Tchelet Books
ITALY: Piemme/Mondadori
KOREA: Cheongmirae
LATIN AMERICA: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
LATVIA: Latvijas Mediji
LITHUANIA: Baltos lankos
MACEDONIA: Matica
NETHERLANDS: A.W. Bruna
NORWAY: Aschehoug
POLAND: Sonia Draga
PORTUGAL: Bertrand Editora
ROMANIA: Litera
RUSSIA: AST
SERBIA: Vulkan
SLOVAKIA: Motýľ
SLOVENIA: Didakta
SPAIN: Editorial Maeva/Maeva Noir
SWEDEN: Albert Bonniers Förlag
TURKEY: Doğan Kitap
UKRAINE: Family Leisure Club
UNITED KINGDOM & COMMONWEALTH: Welbeck Publishing UK
UNITED STATES: Berkley/Penguin Random House
FILM & TV RIGHTS: Stampede Ventures (Greg Silverman)

Ella – Helene Schjerfbeck by Mari Tossavainen

The story of the most well-known Finnish artist  in the world, Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946),
supplemented by previously unpublished correspondence. Her modernist and realist works
have been on display in galleries all over Europe, North America and Asia.

Doctor of philosophy Mari Tossavainen has undertaken a huge job wading through the artist’s letters as well as the extensive research and writings that exist on the artist and providing her commentary on different interpretations. Ella – Helene Schjerfbeck provides readers with a good overall picture of what is known about the artist, and the discovery of the letters adds additional flavor. In addition …Tossavainen also focuses on, among other things, the renaissance of Schjerfbeck’s art from the 1910s and reflects on age and Schjerfbeck’s experiences as “old Ella.” – Starred review, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland

ELLA
Helene Schjerfbeck
Otava, September 2022, 270 pp.

READING MATERIALS:
English sample & synopsis

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)