Piper wins German rights to Sohvi Kangasluoma’s THEN WE SAILED NORTH in five-way auction

We’re delighted to share that, following strong interest and enthusiastic responses from all participating publishers, Piper and its imprint Malik have won the auction for the German rights to THEN WE SAILED NORTH by Sohvi Kangasluoma. The deal was closed by Martti Berner at Ahlbäck Agency.

Malik is part of Piper since 1996, it is the leading brand for narrative travel and adventure writing on the German book market. Their program ranges from hikes in local forests to expeditions on eight-thousand-meter peaks, from complex scientific insights to grand adventures and sustainable initiatives. Its authors include Christine Thürmer, Hannah Emde, Christine Figgener, Reinhold Messner, Stephan Orth, Sven Plöger, and Peter Wohlleben. With inspiring books about both inner and outer journeys, marked by courage, humor, and life experience, Malik represents a list that presents life itself as a rewarding adventure.

This is what acquiring editor, Annika Wachter, from Malik thinks of the book:

What an exceptional and inspiring book! Written by a gifted storyteller who feels truly at home surrounded by ice and water, Then We Sailed North stirred something deep within me. The polar regions have always held a special place in my heart, but I have never experienced them from the water. Sailing the Northwest Passage has now firmly made its way onto my bucket list!

Sohvi’s book also reminded me why protecting this astonishing yet fragile corner of the world is now more important than ever. With disarming modesty and remarkable clarity, she takes her readers along on her and Juho’s extraordinary journey, sailing from Alaska through the mythical Northwest Passage to Greenland, and overwintering, frozen into the ice of a fjord.

As a researcher of Arctic politics, Sohvi weaves her experiences in this unique and increasingly threatened landscape together with the complexities of climate change, sovereignty, and both traditional and scientific knowledge. Travelling at a moment of profound ecological and geopolitical change, she lets evidence, lived experience, and the voices of the people she meets speak for themselves, whether it is Inuit families, researchers, or fishers.

Then We Sailed North is a testament to curiosity, courage, and love – for the ocean, for the Arctic, and for each other.”

This is the third foreign deal of this extraordinary sailing journey across seas that appear on maps as nothing but ice. Kangasluoma and her partner Juho live aboard their sailboat; the ocean is their home—and the beating heart of the planet. The book is a timely reflection on the Arctic as a frontline of climate change and a shifting geopolitical arena.

The rights are still availble in Estonia, Norway, France, Japan, Italy…

Request reading materials for THEN WE SAILED NORTH.

Then We Sailed North: Notes from the Arctic Seas

Sohvi Kangasluoma

An extraordinary sailing journey across seas that appear as nothing but ice on the map.

Sohvi and Juho live aboard their sailboat. The sea is their home, and it is also the heart of the entire planet.

This captivating work of narrative nonfiction portrays the couple’s unique way of life, sailing via Alaska to the Northwest Passage and wintering frozen into the ice in Greenland. Along the way, they encounter inhabitants of land and sea and witness firsthand the impacts of climate change in the North.

Grounded in personal experience and solid research, the story reveals how the environmental crisis affects life in the Arctic seas and challenges our understanding of the North. The adventure offers an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between humans and the sea, and on the nature of love amid the ice.