Breaking news! Chinese rights sold for Johanna Sinisalo’s “Finnish Weird” novel THE CORE OF THE SUN!

We are thrilled to announce a Chinese sale for Johanna Sinisalo’s classic novel of Finnish Weird, THE CORE OF THE SUNCitic Press has acquired Chinese simplified rights to this international bestseller, published originally in 2013 in Finland, and in 2016 in the US by Grove Atlantic, and also in Germany by Klett-Cotta, in Spain by Roca,  in Denmark by Jensen & Dalgaard, in Hungary by Metropolis Media, in Turkey by Ithaki Yayinlari, and Latvia by Petergailis. Join the success! The deal was closed by Elina Ahlback at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

The Chinese publisher Citic Press loves the book:

“Such a clever and imaginative work! When a society lost its freedom, eating spicy food became a form of resistance. The seemingly trivial things in real life have become the best expression of people’s resistance under high pressure. Chili worship, smuggling, gratitude, and the superpower given by chili…… Great creativity has shown by the delicate structure.” — Citic Press, China

From the queen of “Finnish weird,” a captivating and witty speculative satire of a Handmaid’s Tale-esque welfare state where women are either breeders or outcasts, addicts chase the elusive high of super-hot chili peppers, and one woman is searching for her missing sister. The Core of the Sun has received excellent praise around the world:

“Hailed for being “Finnish weird,” this read from Finnish speculative fiction superstar Johanna Sinisalo will especially delight fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.”  – Bustle.com, USA

“An intoxicating book, sizzling to look at and as spicy as a hot pepper.” —Weltexpress, Germany

“One can read this with joy and docility as an exotic thriller. But it can also be seen as a call to resistance” – Anne-Françoise Hivert, Libération, France

“Written with wit and grace—Sinisalo describes depression as “a smooth-walled cavity, an open, echoing cave with a darkness living in it deeper than the space between the stars”—the novel maintains an impressive grasp on plot and suspense, easily luring the reader into taking its characters, politics, and striking story to heart.” – Kirkus Starred Review, USA

Download the English PDF fo THE CORE OF THE SUN here!

 

The Core of the Sun

Johanna Sinisalo

Set in an alternative historical present, in a “eusistocracy”—an extreme welfare state—that holds public health and social stability above all else, The Core of the Sun follows a young woman whose growing addiction to illegal chili peppers leads her on an adventure into a world where love, sex, and free will are all controlled by the state.

The Eusistocratic Republic of Finland has bred a new human sub-species of receptive, submissive women, called eloi, for sex and procreation, while intelligent, independent women are relegated to menial labor and sterilized. How did Finland turn into the North Korea of Europe? Johanna Sinisalo’s tautly told story of fight and flight is also a feisty, between-the-lines social polemic—a witty, inventive, and fiendishly engaging read.

Auringon ydin
Teos, November 2013, 340 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ARABIC: Al Arabi
CHINA: Citic Press
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
GERMANY: Klett-Cotta
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group Kft.
LATVIA: Izdevnieciba Petergailis SIA
SPAIN: Roca Editorial
TURKEY: Ithaki Yayinlari
UNITED STATES: Grove Atlantic USA

Reading materials: English edition

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo

Pushkin Press to relaunch in the UK the Finlandia-winning TROLL. A LOVE STORY by Johanna Sinisalo!

We are thrilled to share that Pushkin Press has acquired the UK & Commonwealth rights to re-launch TROLL. A LOVE STORY by Johanna Sinisalo winner of the prestigious Finlandia Prize in 2000 and sold in 19 languages. Rights are now available in many territories (except US, UK, France, Germany, Denmark).  This classic novel was previously published in the UK by Peter Owen (now acquired by Pushkin Press) as Not Before Sundown and in the US by Grove Atlantic as Troll. A Love Story.
With Film & TV rights of TROLL optioned, and currently in development for the screen by Swedish writer/director Måns Mårlind (The BridgeMidnight SunThe Defeated) and Tuppence Middleton (Mank, Sense8War and Peace),  this thriller-fantasy is going to be the next big hit. Ask for the English edition and join the success!   More about the film news here. 

”A wily thriller-fantasy … Each discovery sounds like the voice of a storyteller reminding us of how the gods play with our fates.”
– Margo Jeffersson, The New York Times

Download the materials for TROLL. A LOVE STORY here

TROLL. A LOVE STORY

by Johanna Sinisalo

The International Fantasy Bestseller and Winner of the Finlandia Prize

Mikael, a young gay photographer, finds in the courtyard of his apartment block a small, man-like creature. It is a young troll, familiar from Scandinavian mythology: a demonic, wild beast. And it is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Supposedly extinct, today it is regarded as a hairy, cuddly toy by Nordic children. Mikael gives the troll a name, Pessi, and takes him home and hides him.

What Mikael does not know is that trolls exude pheromones that have a profound aphrodisiac effect on all those around them. Shooting an assignment for an ultra-hip brand of jeans, Mikael finds himself fast-tracked into a dangerouschain of events, and learns – with tragic consequences – that Pessi the troll is the interpreter of man’s darkest, most forbidden impulses.

A sharp, resonant, prickly book that exists on the slipstream of SF, fantasy, horror and gay fiction.”
– Neil Gaiman

“A punk version of The Hobbit”
– USA Today

Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi
Tammi, 2000, 268pp

Reading material: English edition

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
FRANCE: Actes Sud
GERMANY: Tropen (Klett-Cotta)
UK: Pushkin Press
USA: Grove Atlantic

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo

MOONDAY LETTERS by Emmi Itäranta nominated for the BSFA Awards!

We are thrilled to share the news that THE MOONDAY LETTERS by Emmi Itäranta has been nominated for the British Science Fiction Association Awards!

The BSFA awards have been presented yearly since 1970, and the winner will be presented in April 2023.

THE MOONDAY LETTERS is the newest novel by Emmi Itäranta, a love story with elements of clifi and suspense woven into the sotry. The English edition was published by Titan in summer 2022, and has been widely praised:

“Itäranta accomplishes an impressive amount of worldbuilding in Lumi’s letters and makes her longing for her soulmate palpable. The result is a quietly powerful meditation on the human need to share life and love with others.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
“[A] melancholy, lovely, and alarming tale about humanity in crisis”
-Foreword reviews

Rights to the title have been sold in Czechia, Hungary, and World English – all other rights are still available!

Download the materials for THE MOONDAY LETTERS here!
Reminder: The FILI translation grant application round is ongoing! FILI provides grants that can cover up to 70% of the costs of translating Finnish and Finland-Swedish titles to other languages. The deadline for the current application round is February 1st. You can find more information here: Translation and printing grants for publishers outside Finland – FILI

THE MOONDAY LETTERS
Emmi Itäranta
A  love story that bends space, time, myth and science

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

While recalling her own path to becoming a healer, Lumi discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.

THE MOONDAY LETTERS
Teos, 2020, 300pp

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CZECHIA: Albatros Media
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group
WORLD ENGLISH (print, e-book): Titan Books
WORLD ENGLISH (audio): Recorded Books

Reading material: English edition

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Italian rights renewed for Emmi Itäranta’s MEMORY OF WATER!

We are thrilled to announce that the Italian rights for MEMORY OF WATER, the award-winning title by internationally bestselling author Emmi Itäranta have been renewed by Sperling and Kupfer / Mondadori!

The movie based on the title, premiered in Finland this fall, will be screened in Italy early 2023. The deal was closed by Elsa Lindström at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Watch the trailer for the film here!

Sperling praised the internationally bestselling title:
“A powerful and imaginative story, an author, like Margaret Atwood or David Mitchell, who recreates ourselves and our worst fears and tells us about worlds as distant and unreal as they are very close to us.”

Recently, the title was also sold to Serbia:

Unexpected heroine in the harsh, oppressive world devastated by an environmental disaster. Courage has many faces, and in this extraordinary dystopia for all generations, it has the face of young Noria, with a different kind of strength, quiet and nurturing. Truly inspiring coming of age story about loyalty, self-sacrifice and hope in the face of hard choices.
– Ana Ješić, editor, Heliks Publishing House, Serbia

The rights to MEMORY OF WATER have sold to 25 territories, including Wolrd English by HarperCollins! Rights are still available in Germany, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Greece, Portugal etc!

Download the full English PDF for MEMORY OF WATER here!

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water is a story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, of undying hope in a wrecked world.

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize in 2012 and the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

The story, set in a drought-ravaged, future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few, follows seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

Teemestarin kirja

Teos, November 2012, 266 pp.

Rights sold: FINLAND: Teos (orig.),

ARABIC: Dar Al Muna
BRAZIL: Record
BULGARIA: Perseus
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media/Plus
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri
FRANCE: Place des Editeurs
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media
ITALY: Sperling & Kupfer/Mondadori
JAPAN: Nishimura Shoten
KOREA: The Book In My Life
LATVIA: Janis Roze
LITHUANIA: Nieko Rimto
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag
RUSSIA: Text Publishers
SERBIA: Heliks
SPAIN: Ediciones B.
SWEDEN: Modernista
TURKEY: Dogan Egmont
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins

FILM & TV: Bufo

Reading materials: English edition

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

The film MEMORY OF WATER, based on Emmi Itäranta’s international bestseller, hits the theatres today!

We are thrilled to celebrate the premiere for MEMORY OF WATER, the wonderful science fiction film based on Emmi Itäranta’s celebrated and internationally bestselling book! 

Watch the English trailer for the film here!

The film has been applauded as the best Finnish science fiction film in the country’s biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and has received praises in other media for its masterful fit into the genre.

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water is a story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, of undying hope in a wrecked world.

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been keepers of natural springs for centuries, Memory of Water tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
ARABIC: Dar Al Muna
BRAZIL: Record
BULGARIA: Perseus
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media/Plus
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri
FRANCE: Place des Editeurs
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY: DTV/Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media
ITALY: Piemme/ Sperling & Kupfer
JAPAN: Nishimura Shoten
KOREA: The Book in My Life
LATVIA: Janis Roze
LITHUANIA: Nieko Rimto
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag
RUSSIA: Text Publishers
SPAIN: Ediciones B.
SWEDEN: Modernista
TURKEY: Dogan Egmont
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins/HarperVoyager

FILM & TV RIGHTS: Bufo

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

The Moonday Letters published in the UK!

We are thrilled to celebrate the publication of the English edition of THE MOONDAY LETTERS, Emmi Itäranta’s newest title and her third novel, which has already gathered praising reviews:

“Itäranta accomplishes an impressive amount of worldbuilding in Lumi’s letters and makes her longing for her soulmate palpable. The result is a quietly powerful meditation on the human need to share life and love with others.”
– Publisher’s Weekly

“[A] melancholy, lovely, and alarming tale about humanity in crisis”
-Foreword reviews

THE MOONDAY LETTERS was published by Titan Books in the UK yesterday, and the US publication will follow on July 19th, when the book will also be published as an audio book from Recorded Books! Congratulations to Emmi Itäranta and her publishers!

Download the English pdf here!

The Moonday Letters is a beautifully crafted and hauntingly written mystery that successfully combines many elements of science-fiction, and I’m delighted to have it on Titan’s list!
– Cat Camacho, Senior Editor, Titan Books, UK

When I started reading The Moonday Letters, I was transported very quickly into the world Emmi had created, and was tantalized by the mystery – and relationships – I was discovering. The Recorded Books team and I are very happy to bring it to audio listeners everywhere.
 – Catherine Wallach, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Recorded Books, USA


THE MOONDAY LETTERS
by Emmi Itäranta

A space-age love story that blends fantasy, cli-fi, and suspense, and follows a healer whose search for her elusive partner leads to a mysterious journey through time, space, science, and myth in which Earth’s future hangs in the balance.

The Moonday Letters was published in Finland in 2020 to amazing reviews and won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for the Best Finnish Science Fiction Book 2020! 

Not surprisingly, Emmi Itäranta thinks of herself more as an architect than an author. Her writing process includes work that’s not visible to the reader. When Itäranta creates her fictitious world, she first digs up the tiniest details; for instance, the geography, the most common cultivated plants, the different phases of the moon. With her latest piece, she had to do background work on space colonies plus investigate shamanism and varying types of lichen. 
– Venla Rossi, Image magazine, October 2020, Finland

Kuunpäivän kirjeet, Teos, September 2020, 300 pp.

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media/Kniha Zlin
HUNGARY: Metropolis
WORLD ENGLISH (print,e-book):
Titan Books
WORLD ENGLISH (audio):
Recorded Books

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

3 new Fiction deals!

We are extremely happy to announce that Naklada Ljevak has acquired the Croatian rights for Johanna Sinisalo’s novel BLOOD OF ANGELS and Elina Hirvonen’s novel WHEN TIME RUNS OUT.

Finnish literature is conquering Croatia! Another prestigious publishing house in Croatia, Mala Zvona, has acquired the Croatian rights to Tiina Raevaara’s Runeberg Prize-winning novella collection I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE. The deals were closed by Sten-Erik Tammemäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

Naklada Ljevak praised both BLOOD OF ANGELS and WHEN TIME RUNS OUT:

Naklada Ljevak decided to publish the novel BLOOD OF ANGELS by award-winning Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo because its subject – environmental disaster caused by annihilation of the bees – becomes an increasingly urgent problem and because of the highest literary value of the novel that combines ecological warning, mythological themes and human relationships.

Naklada Ljevak is proud to announce publishing the Croatian edition of the haunting eco-thriller and psychological drama WHEN TIME RUNS OUT by one of the most esteemed Finnish writers, Elina Hirvonen. The timely and universal theme of the relationship within a family set against the backdrop of climate crisis will surely resonate with Croatian readers.
Nada Brnardic, Editor, Naklada Ljevak, Croatia


BLOOD OF ANGELS
ENKELTEN VERTA
by Johanna Sinisalo
Teos, 2011, 275 pp.

“The queen is dead. The bees are gone. Thus, the world is about to end. But if you follow the bees, there are doors in the air. And a desperate man is ready to go through one.”

Albert Einstein is claimed to have said that if bees disappear from the earth, mankind has four years left to live. When mass bee-vanishings of unprecedented scope and devastation hit the United States, Orvo, a beekeeper, knows all too well where it will lead. And one day, when Orvo goes to check on his hives, he is forced to witness something he wishes he had never lived to see. The queen is dead. The epidemic has spread to Europe. The world is coming to an end.

The light of Orvo’s life is his son, Eero, whose secret animal activist existence Orvo discovers far too late. Eero’s activities as a defender of animal rights and an ardent opponent of Orvo’s inherited way of life propel the family into irreversible, gutwrenching conflict. Orvo takes a desperate step onto a path where only he and the bees know the way… This novel is a magical plunge into the myth of death and immortality, a tale of human blindness in the face of overwhelming choices and inevitabilities.

Download the full English PDF here!


WHEN TIME RUNS OUT
KUN AIKA LOPPUU
by Elina Hirvonen
WSOY, 2015, 256 pp.

Helsinki, less than a decade in the future. Laura Anttila is lecturing at the university on climate change, hope, and the responsibility of humans. In the hallway, she is confronted by two police officers.

Laura’s daughter Aava encounters a woman who has just lost her daughter in a Somalian village. Having returned to her apartment, Laura hears that someone is shooting at people from the rooftop of the Lasipalatsi building in Helsinki.

When Time Runs Out is a powerful novel about parenthood, about finding your place, and about the responsibility of people to intervene in the course of events. Hirvonen wakes the reader to ponder what climate change and the lack of clean water can entail for humans in the future.

Download materials here!


I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE
EN TUNNE SINUA VIERELLÄNI
by Tiina Raevaara
Teos, 2010, 260 pp.

A young man is looking for his fate while observing dragonflies, an unknown something takes the life of Matilda, and Mr. Gordon ends up in a birds’ hospital.

Tiina Raevaara’s I DON’T FEEL YOU BY MY SIDE is a novella collection, the texts of which, veering into the surreal, take the reader on a journey to the confluences of man and nature, dreams and subconsciousness, the circle of death and life. In this collection of 14 novellas, Raevaara shines the spotlight on the human mind and the forces tearing through its realities. The feelings of alienation and longing combine with a clear language and different narrators, each of whom wants to connect with themselves or someone next to them before it’s too late.

Request materials here!

ENKELTEN VERTA
Teos, 2011, 275 pp.

Reading materials:
English manuscript

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
CROATIA: Naklada Ljevak
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
FRANCE: Actes Sud
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group
POLAND: Foksal Publishing Group
UNITED KINGDOM: Peter Owen Limited

 

KUN AIKA LOPPUU
WSOY, 2015, 256 pp.

Reading materials:
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CROATIA: Naklada Ljevak
CZECH REPUBLIC: Omega Publishing
ESTONIA: Varrak
LITHUANIA: Baltos Lankos
SWEDEN: Leopard Förlag
UK: Manilla

 

EN TUNNE SINUA VIERELLÄNI
Teos, 2010, 260 pp.

Reading materials:
Finnish edition

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)
CROATIA: Mala Zvona

About author


Elina Hirvonen

Elina Hirvonen is an award-winning author and documentary filmmaker whose novels have been translated into many languages. Liesl Schillinger praised Hirvonen´s debut novel, When I Forgot, on the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and the novel also received positive reviews from The Independent, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Globe and Mail.

Hirvonen has received the Kalevi Jäntti Prize and the Nuori Aleksis Prize, and has been nominated for Finlandia Prize and Debut Prize.

Her new novel, The Logbook of Love, is published in Finland in August 2023. The Logbook of Love is the first part of a trilogy of novels that create their world through conversations.


About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

About author


Tiina Raevaara

Tiina Raevaara (b. 1979) is a writer, science journalist, and biologist who received a PhD for her work in genetics. She received the State Award for Public Information and the Pro Scientia Prize from the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. She has published eight novels, three non-fiction books, and a novella collection which was awarded the Runeberg Prize. Her suspense novel Double Helix (2020), the opening chapter of a new thriller series, received the Laurin Kirja audio book award, and the second installment in the series, Polar Vortex (2021), has been widely praised.

Raevaara’s books combine grand perspectives of natural science with compelling literary expression. She draws inspiration from Nordic nature, the major questions of science, and the complexities of humanity.

Raevaara lives in Kerava, a small town in Southern Finland, and goes on daily walks in the forest with her two black dogs.

Film & TV rights for Johanna Sinisalo’s Finlandia Prize winning novel TROLL acquired by Måns Mårlind and Tuppence Middleton!

We are extremely happy to announce that Swedish writer/director Måns Mårlind (The BridgeMidnight SunThe Defeated) and Tuppence Middleton (Mank, Sense8War and Peace) have acquired the option for Johanna Sinisalo’s book TROLL, A LOVE STORY (2000).

Mårlind and Middleton are currently developing it for the screen and Middleton is set to direct. The deal was closed by Elina Ahlbäck at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.  Mårlind is represented by Eric Williams, Zero Gravity and Matilda Boström, Agentfirman. Middleton is represented by Conway Van Gelder Grant (UK) and UTA (US).

TROLL, A LOVE STORY has been published in 19 territories, but rights are currently available in: Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Japan, Hungary, Norway, Lithuania, Czechia, Romania, Albania, Latvia, etc

Download the Full English ms for this bestseller and Finlandia-Award winner here!

Måns Mårlind: We have been looking for something to do together for quite some time now and then suddenly Johanna’s wonderful book came to mind. It is a highly original, dark and touching folk horror set in our modern world where Trolls are rare, but do exist. It was when Tuppence suggested we move the story from Finland to London I realized this was meant to be.

Tuppence MiddletonThe industry and audiences alike have shown a growing appetite for local stories with an international appeal, and Johanna’s one-of-a-kind novel provides the perfect urban fable for our time. I am thrilled to be bringing these unforgettable characters to life on screen and to explore this strange and beautiful tale about what it is to be an outsider and to embrace your true nature in an increasingly disconnected world.


INTERNATIONAL PRAISE:
“A sharp, resonant, prickly book that exists on the slipstream of SF, fantasy, horror and gay fiction.”
– Neil Gaiman

”A wily thriller-fantasy … Each discovery sounds like the voice of a storyteller reminding us of how the gods play with our fates.”
– Margo Jeffersson, The New York Times

“A punk version of The Hobbit”
– USA Today

“Chillingly seductive.”
– Independent, Best Reads of 2003


TROLL
by Johanna Sinisalo

The international fantasy bestseller and winner of the Finlandia Prize. Mikael, a young gay photographer, finds in the courtyard of his apartment block a small, man-like creature. It is a young troll, familiar from Scandinavian mythology: a demonic, wild beast. And it is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. Supposedly extinct, today it is regarded as a hairy, cuddly toy by Nordic children. Mikael gives the troll a name, Pessi, and takes him home and hides him.

The first thing Mikael does is research everything he can about trolls from the internet, from folklore, nature journals and newspaper cuttings.What Mikael does not discover is that trolls exude pheromones that smell like a Calvin Klein aftershave and that this has a profound aphrodisiac effect on all those around him. Shooting an assignment for an ultra-hip brand of jeans, Mikael finds himself fast-tracked into a dangerous liaison with Martes, the sexually ambivalent art director of the advertising agency concerned, while a couple of his friends in turn fall in love with him because he carries the troll’s scent. What Mikael fails above all to learn, with tragic consequences, is that Pessi the troll is the interpreter of man’s darkest, most forbidden impulses.


FILI GRANTS REMINDER

We are thrilled to remind you that the latest application period for Finnish Literature Exchange (FILI) translation and printing grants has opened and will last until May 1st!

It’s a perfect time to acquire exciting Finnish titles and apply for translation grants!
Don’t have a Finnish translator yet? Find them here!

In the last application period in Winter 2022, 63 projects earned a grant with 113,000€ awarded in total. See the previously awarded projects here!

Translation grants
Up to 70% of translation costs from Finnish or Finland-Swedish can be covered by a FILI translation grant. There are 3 application periods in a year, and the Spring application period is 1.4.-1.5.2022.

TROLL. A LOVE STORY

Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi
Tammi, 2000, 268pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

ALBANIA: Dituria*
BRAZIL: Devir*
BULGARIA: Perseus*
CZECH REPUBLIC: One Woman Press*
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
FRANCE: Actes Sud
GERMANY: Tropen (Klett-Cotta)
JAPAN: Sunmark*
LATVIA: Atena*
LITHUANIA: Vaga*
POLAND: Terytoria*
RUSSIA: Amphora*
SLOVENIA: Modrijan*
SPAIN: Polledro*
SWEDEN: Wahlström&Widstrand*
UK, Peter Owen*
USA, Grove Atlantic

*Rights reverted

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo

German rights for THE BOOK OF OBOI sold to Cross Cult!

We are really glad to let you know that the German rights to Veera Salmi’s THE BOOK OF OBOI have now been sold!
The deal was closed by Toomas Aasmäe at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

The new publisher is Cross Cult and they are really happy:

„The Book of Oboi” is a suspenseful adventure for middle-grade readers. This book is a great way to get children interested in literacy and the written language in general and to show them, that books are not only letters or words – there are fantastic thoughts and whole worlds in them.
– Andreas Mergenthaler, Cross Cult, Germany

Download the English sample and synopsis here


THE BOOK OF OBOI
by Veera Salmi

In the city where nobody reads – can a book save the World? What about an orphaned boy who doesn’t believe in stories?

A spectacular novel about a world where literacy has been decimated and a boy who does not believe in stories. Thirteen-year-old Oboi has run away to find his former homestead. He ends up in a peculiar and disaster-stricken city where no one knows how to read. People are led by the mysterious Wanda, who, via devices hooked up to one’s palm, says what everyone should know or do. At a flea market, Oboi meets a woman who gives him a book. According to her, this book can change everything and help find what Oboi thought was lost forever. Suddenly the story-averse Oboi notices he has become the hero, that orphaned boy deemed to save the whole world.

OBOIN KIRJA
Otava January 2022, 304 pp.

Age group: 10+

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
GERMANY: Cross Cult

READING MATERIALS:
English sample and synopsis

About author


Veera Salmi

Veera Salmi is a Helsinki-based writer, who has worked over 15 years as a kindergarten teacher. The real starting point for her career as a writer was given by the children in the kindergarten, who said they wanted to hear stories of children who live in the city. So she started writing such stories. Now Veera Salmi is a bestselling author of over 20 books.

Bibliography


2023, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Aina Ponoi

Veera Salmi


2023, Picture Books (0-3 Years), Chapter Books (3-6 Years)

The Duck Who Was Afraid of Eagles

Veera Salmi


2022, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Book of Oboi

Veera Salmi


2020, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

A Beautiful Day to Die

Veera Salmi

Introducing: EALA Spring 2022 Fiction Catalogue!

The EALA Spring 2022 Rights Guide is here!

Our titles represent the best in literary fiction and in crime fiction with awarded authors, in addition to extremely strong historical and humour titles!

Browse the catalogue here.

We have picked out a few new exciting titles – take a look!


MURDER ON THE ISLE OF BLISS by Eeva Louko
A crime-solving journalist investigates her father’s murder and the secrets of the tight community

  • This opening of a new cozy crime series is a perfect combination of surprising twists and messy relationships!

After living abroad for many years, thirty-something Ronja returns to her childhood home in Lauttasaari, Helsinki after her father is found murdered by the seaside. Welcoming her back are a group of old friends whom it’s both comforting and painful to see again, and the young police officer assigned to the case who does not seem to be doing his work properly. Using the skills she’s learned from working as a journalist, Ronja starts investigating the background of her distant father, uncovering the old secrets of the community that have been kept under wraps until now. When everyone knows everyone, each person becomes a suspect.

PRAISE:
“This debutant has crafted a multifaceted, clever, surprising and truly entertaining plot, which is evidence of her talent for this specific genre.” – Antti Majander in Helsingin Sanomat



LILI FLAME INVESTIGATES #1: MURDER AT THE MANSION by Laura Andersson
The beginning of this feel-good crime series charms with its wit!

  • A strong female lead, societal bling, and mysteries! Everything good in one book!

Post-war Helsinki is full of people looking to build a new life, and Lili Flame, who spent the war years in the US as a housemaid, is among them. However, the housekeeping gets swept aside when Lili breaks away from the traditional womanly roles of her time and begins a career as a private eye solving crimes which are too sensitive for the police.

Lili gets help from her husband, a gay man who’s becoming a companion like no other – even if the true nature of their marriage has to be kept a secret. The first case leads her to the party of a rich corporate family. The glamor and glitz of this segment of society is blinding, until the investigation takes a tragic turn and Lili realizes she has a much bigger mystery on her hands than she thought.

Inspired by Agatha Christie and the screwball comedies of the 30s, Lili will delight anyone looking for a good mystery, humor, and a little escapism!

For more Crime Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


THE SILK SISTERS #1: CHARLOTTA by Sara Medberg
Glamor, the courtly life, beautiful dresses, and passion!

  • A new series about the Grand Duchy of Finland in the spirit of Jane Austen.

Strict class hierarchy and fabulous silk ruffles rule in the 19th century Åbo, where seamstress Charlotta Silke is looking for her own Mr. Darcy. When Baron Ridderlöw of Starfire Manor hires Charlotta as a lady’s maid for her sister, both their lives change for good. Charlotta gets her hands on Jane Austen’s newly published Pride and Prejudice, which alters the way she sees her role as a woman. But the book’s ideas of modern love, marriage and early feminism are put to the test as the bitter war-torn Baron Ridderlöw becomes romantically interested in Charlotta. Can an ordinary lady’s maid have it all – a meaningful life and the man of her dreams?


ANNA OF HAGA MANOR by Riikka-Maria Rosenberg
Life and love of the nobility in 18th century Finland!

  • Opening chapter of a new series about historical women

Anna of Haga Manor is an enchantingly sensuous historical novel that transports the reader to 18th century Finland, still part of Sweden then, and into the middle of a certain love story.

Anna Magdalena Lilliebrunn, a noblewoman nearing her forties, has a stain on her reputation and the role of an old maid looms in her future. Everything is set to change, however, as the notoriously hot-tempered officer Karl Gustaf Uggla from the neighboring Haga Manor is chosen to be Anna’s husband.

At the Manor, Anna is met by a frigid atmosphere. The reserved relatives and her husband’s lover make sureshe will neither feel at home nor become lady of the house. Will the tough and self-willed Anna be capable of living in the manner that she believes in?

Anna of Haga Manor is the masterful opening chapter of a new historical novel series, The Ladies of Haga Manor. Based on thorough research on the lives and fates of real women who lived at the real Haga manor, the ambience of the past is expertly captured and the reader will want to savour every word.

For more Historical Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


THE GREEN CHAMBER by Sirpa Kähkönen
A heartfelt story of memories, youth, and searching for the people you’ve lost

  • A Savonia Prize winner!

A touching story set in the winter of 1964 in Kuopio, eastern lake area of Finland. Three teenagers try to navigate life shadowed by the pain inflicted by their parents, who cannot handle life after the trauma of WWII.

Leo, Irene and Jaakko have been friends since childhood, but dropping out of school, going to army, and falling in love have changed the dynamics between the three. A December day lights the spark which sees their lives changed.

Close to the teens and still far away, separated by the years lived and things seen, are the old couple Linnea and Santeri. Having lived through the Revolutions in Russia and both world wars, the couple has found refuge in tending to their flower shop, where Irene also works. Santeri, however, searches for something he lost decades ago in St. Petersburg, and sets out to try and find it once more.


MY ONLY HOME by Hanna Brotherus
The only way to regain control of your body, soul, and life is to be completely and brutally honest

  • No. 1 bestselling Finnish fiction title of 2021 with more than 60,000 copies sold in Finland!

When her children leave their home, a woman wants to take a deep dive into the past. She wants to understand all the lives she has lived, to examine whose eyes she has seen herself through, to see what she still has ahead of her. And she wants to have a fresh start in everything possible.

An uncompromising journey into the truth behind memories begins. All of the old wounds and traumas, some spanning generations, are ripped open and exposed with uncompromising honesty, revealing a life punctured by sorrow, illness, pressures, and death. The gates are wide open when the woman realizes she is the most important person in her life. Her body is her only home.

This heart-rending debut novel by the dancer, director, and choreographer, Hanna Brotherus, moves through a woman’s different life stages without excessive embellishment and in a relatable way. MY ONLY HOME is a fearless autofictive novel about the frenzy for life and the acceptance of incompleteness. Reader feedback emphasizes the moving and striking honesty in the book and how well one can identify with it. The book moves, touches, cleanses and has a profound impact.

PRAISE:

“MY ONLY HOME is a book of crises. It is a confessional novel, and an exceptionally well-written one. [—] Brotherus’ text is as light as that of someone who is jotting down their thoughts in a journal. In fact, MY ONLY HOME is a journal, the journal of Life. It does not embellish. It laughs, grieves, and eventually nurtures its writer.” – Anne Välinoro, Kulttuuritoimitus magazine

For more Literary Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here


We are so excited for this season!

Team EALA, 
Elina, Toomas, Elsa, Sten-Erik and Linda


THE MOONDAY LETTERS UK Cover & publication date reveal!

We are thrilled to share the beautiful cover for the English edition of THE MOONDAY LETTERS, Emmi Itäranta’s newest title and her third novel.

The Moonday Letters will be released on 5 July 2022 from Titan Books UK, and simultaneously in the US as an audio book from Recorded Books. Read more here, including a sneak peek into the novel:
https://www.scifinow.co.uk/books/the-moonday-letters-exclusive-cover-reveal-and-sneak-peek/

The Moonday Letters is a beautifully crafted and hauntingly written mystery that successfully combines many elements of science-fiction, and I’m delighted to have it on Titan’s list!
– Cat Camacho, Senior Editor, Titan Books, UK

When I started reading The Moonday Letters, I was transported very quickly into the world Emmi had created, and was tantalized by the mystery – and relationships – I was discovering. The Recorded Books team and I are very happy to bring it to audio listeners everywhere.
 – Catherine Wallach,  Senior Acquisitions Editor,  Recorded Books, USA


The Moonday Letters was published in Finland in 2020 to amazing reviews and won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for the Best Finnish Science Fiction Book 2020! 

Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors: Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, James Tiptree Jr. Honoree, and Author of MEMORY OF WATER, which sold in 21 languages, with a feature film to be released in Finland in March 2022.

She worked on her latest Fantasy/Sci-Fi title Moonday Letters for three and a half years while the world went through increasing turmoil.


THE MOONDAY LETTERS
by Emmi Itäranta

A space-age love story that blends fantasy, cli-fi, and suspense, and follows a healer whose search for her elusive partner leads to a mysterious journey through time, space, science, and myth in which Earth’s future hangs in the balance.

Download the full English ms by clicking here

Not surprisingly, Emmi Itäranta thinks of herself more as an architect than an author. Her writing process includes work that’s not visible to the reader. When Itäranta creates her fictitious world, she first digs up the tiniest details; for instance, the geography, the most common cultivated plants, the different phases of the moon. With her latest piece, she had to do background work on space colonies plus investigate shamanism and varying types of lichen. 
– Venla Rossi, Image magazine, October 2020, Finland

 

A wonderful cover for a wonderful book!

Kuunpäivän kirjeet, Teos, September 2020, 300 pp.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

CZECHIA: Albatros Media
HUNGARY: Metropolis
WORLD ENGLISH (print,e-book):
Titan Books
WORLD ENGLISH (audio):
Recorded Books

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Thank You for an excellent year 2021 and Happy Holidays!

Elina Ahlback Literary Agency Team would like to Thank You all for an excellent year 2021 and wish you Happy Holidays! May Year 2022 bring us all joy and happiness.

With our brand new Finlandia Prize winner ’Where the Light Comes In’ by Anne-Maija Aalto we wish you Happy New Year 2022.

With gratitude,
Elina, Toomas, Ebba and Linda


Finlandia Prize winner WHERE THE LIGHT COMES IN by Anne-Maija Aalto

The narration is effortless, the world distant yet timely. The great questions of humanity are present. The story elegantly invites young people to see how their relationships with their parents can change when they get to know them better 

– Perttu Pölönen, Futurist, Non-Fiction Author, Finlandia Prize Jury.

Finlandia Prize winner Anne-Maija Aalto’s WHERE THE LIGHT COMES IN is the dystopian love story of two very different characters with different values set in a water-covered former Japan. What is a person if you take away their memory? Who determines what we believe?

A captivating story of rebellion, hope and humanity.

Download reading materials here

WHERE THE LIGHT COMES IN
(orig. Mistä valo pääsee sisään)
Otava, 2021


MEMORY OF WATER Feature Film Trailer and Release dates!

We are very excited to share the news that the feature film MEMORY OF WATER based on Emmi Itäranta internationally bestselling novel will be released in Finland in Spring 2022 and internationally in 2022 (exact dates to be announced).

Euro sales firm The Match Factory and Finnish producers Bufo have re-teamed on this dystopian sci-fi thriller Memory Of Water (Veden vartija).

Watch this amazing magical teaser trailer, here in English: https://youtu.be/79PvOl7AFN8

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

World English rights are held by HarperCollins.

The translation rights have been sold to 22 countries, but are still available in Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Albania, Slovakia, Greece, Serbia, Portugal etc.

Download the full English ms for MEMORY OF WATER by clicking here


In Hollywood, Deadline published the news about the coming film and shared the trailer internationally.
Read the full article here:
https://deadline.com/video/the-match-factory-re-teams-with-the-other-side-of-hope-producers-on-eco-thriller-memory-of-water-first-teaser/

ABOUT THE FILM:
Saarela’s (Twisted Roots) film, set in a waterless world of the future, sees a woman follow in her father’s footsteps by becoming her village’s ‘Tea Master’, a position which also sees her inherit a secret truth that has been hidden for a long time. The young woman must wield her quiet strength as a compass along a dangerous journey for her people’s survival.
Memory Of Water is based on Emmi Itäranta’s eco novel, which won accolades such as the 2012 Teos Fantasy and Scif-Fi Literary Fiction Contest, 2012 Kalevi Jäntti Award and 2013 Nuori Aleksis Award and is sold in 22 territories.
Feature film is produced by Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff (Bufo) and co-produced by Nina Frese and Reinhard Brundig (for Germany’s Pandora Film), Ivo Felt (for Estonia’s Allfilm) and Maria Ekerhovd (for Norway’s Mer Film).
Cast includes Saga Sarkola, Mimosa Willamo, Lauri Tilkanen, Pekka Strang, Minna Haapkylä and Kheba Touray.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

THE MEMORY OF WATER
by Emmi Itäranta
Memory of Water is a story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, of undying hope in a wrecked world.

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been keepers of natural springs for centuries, Memory of Water tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

Teemestarin kirja, Teos, September 2012, 266 pp.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

ARABIC: Dar al Muna
BRAZIL: Editora Record Ltda
BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd.
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media a.s./ Plus Publishers
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri Publishers
FRANCE: Presses de la Cite
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY: Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group Kft.
ITALY: Sperling & Kupfer
LATVIA: Jana Rozes Apgads
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag AS
RUSSIA: TEXT
SPAIN: Ediciones B
SWEDEN: Modernista
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperVoyager

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Hungarian rights for STORMSEYE by Meri Luttinen sold to Európa Könyvkiadó!

We are really happy to let you know that the award-winning YA fantasy debut STORMSEYE by Meri Luttinen has found its publisher in Hungary!

The happy new publisher is Európa Könyvkiadó, the Hungarian publisher for Christopher Paolini, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen King, Milan Kundera, etc.

STORMSEYE is an adventure set in the ancient Finnish fantasy world and a touching story about a young woman finding her own place in society.
It won the coveted Topelius prize and was nominated for  Finlandia Prize for Children’s & YA literature 2020 and also Kuvastaja Award!

Download English sample and synopsis for STORMSEYE here!

Just recently the Russian rights were sold to one of the TOP40 publishers in the World –  Eksmo!

“We are glad to bring joy to our readers with such a wonderful book as Stormseye (Myrskynsilmä) by Meri Luttinen. It is an inspiring story that will certainly adorn our publishing portfolio. This is a book about a young girl looking for the place she belongs – exactly what we have been looking for a long time!”
– Alexey Smirnov, Foreign Rights Manager, Eksmo, Russia


STORMSEYE
by Meri Luttinen
A beautiful fantasy adventure set in the ancient Finnish fantasy world where a young woman finds her own place in the society

On a long midsummer night, when the sun never really sets, sixteen-year-old Kainu stands at the edge of a series of red circles drawn in ochre on the ground.

All young girls in her village discover what their future role in life is going to be by taking part in this ancient and traditional “rite of the circles”. Girls usually find that they end up in one of the more common circles that points them in the direction of roles such as matrons, mothers, or craftswomen. No one even dreams about the five most unique and select innermost circles, usually reserved for shamans and sages. Not one single girl has ever found themselves directed to one of the special circles for hundreds of years.

However, when Kainu enters the very middle circle which is that of a Great Sage, heavy responsibilities fall on her, and she has to go on a long journey to find out who she really is.

Praise for the award-winning STORMSEYE:

Set in an ancient Finnish fantasy world, the debut novel is a great story of a young woman growing up, it deals with difference, loneliness and overcoming one’s own fears.
– Topelius Prize Jury

Meri Luttinen is a skillful writer, her debut novel Myrskynsilmä is a masterful story that progresses effortlessly.
– 
Kirjavinkit blog, Finland

“he language of the book is highly nuanced, and the narrative flows like a gushy stream. Despite its volume, the novel is a real page-turner.
– 
Lastenkirjahylly Blog, FInland

The Finlandia Prize Nominee YA book Stormseye expands on the subject of being seen and being seen in the right way. — The story haunted me.
– Kangasalan Sanomat newspaper, Finland

STORMSEYE
(Myrskynsilmä)
WSOY, 2020, 397 pp.
Age group: 13 or 14+

READING MATERIALS:
English sample and synopsis

RIGHTS SOLD:
FINLAND: WSOY

HUNGARY: Európa Könyvkiadó
RUSSIA: Eksmo

About author


Meri Luttinen

Meri Luttinen is an award-winning Finnish debut writer from Tampere. Her debut Stormseye won the Topelius prize and was nominated for both Kuvastaja Award and Finlandia Prize for Children's & YA literature in 2020.

She has a Master's degree in Finnish language and literature and has worked teaching Finnish and creating study materials. Luttinen is fascinated by everyday life in different eras and wants to transport readers to other worlds with her texts.

Bibliography


2020, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Stormseye

Meri Luttinen

Korean rights for Maria Turtschaninoff’s bestselling YA Fantasy novel series THE RED ABBEY CHRONICLES acquired by Gimm-Young Publishers

The Korean rights for Maria Turtschaninoff’s bestselling YA Fantasy novel series THE RED ABBEY CHRONICLES have now been acquired by Gimm-Young Publishers

We are excited to inform you that the Korean rights for Maria Turtschaninoff’s three-book series The Red Abbey Chronicles have been acquired by one of the major children’s books publisher in Korea, namely Gimm-Young Publishers. Their foreign title list includes authors such as Franziska Biermann, Michael Ende, and Victoria Ying.

The Korean publisher’s praise catches the spirit of the series:

“Maresi will be the children’s hero following Harry Potter. Feminism and fantasy are completely woven together to catch not only fun but also lessons! It’s a must for children!”
– 
Soyeon Kim, Foreign Rights Manager

The Red Abbey Chronicles is a historically inspired feminist fantasy whose rights have been sold to 29 territories. Additionally, a feature film is in development by The Bureau.

Download full English pdfs for the series here

Maria Turtschaninoff: “I crawled into every wardrobe I could find and I was very disappointed that none of them ever lead to Narnia”

We thank the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture for their financial support of the video project.
Red Abbey Chronicles by Maria Turtschaninoff

MARESI
The Red Abbey is a refuge for women and girls, where everyone pursues their own areas of interest. Maresi prefers to spend her time reading and learning. Everything changes when the frightened Jai arrives on the island. She has seen her sister get buried alive for speaking to a young man, and her father and a crew of thugs are after her. Maresi and her friends have to fight to defend both Jai and their community.

NAONDEL
An independent prequel to Maresi, Naondel tells the story of the First Sisters – founders of the Red Abbey. Imprisoned in a harem by a dangerous man, with a dark magic that grants him power over life and death, the women must overcome their mistrust of each other in order to escape. But they can only do so at a great cost, both for those who leave and those left behind.

MARESI: RED MANTLE
The third book is an epistolary novel that follows Maresi after she leaves the Red Abbey to establish a school in her oppressed home province of Rovas. The return to her Northern home, and fitting in, is not easy even with all the knowledge she’s bringing with her, but she is determined to triumph over the difficulties. However, she does not need to make it alone, for life has yet another surprise in store: love.

Praise for the series:

“Maresi stands out for its startling originality, and for the frightening plausibility of the dangerous world it creates” – Rebecca Hawkes, Telegraph

“It’s rare to find a YA fantasy with such polished writing… Utterly satisfying and completely different” – Booklist, starred review

“Dark, powerful and original… it really stands out in a very crowded YA marketplace. Thrilling, suspenseful and gloriously feminist” – The Bookseller

“It’s hard not to be impressed with Turtschaninoff’s magical world” – The Times

”The novel is at once contemporary and timeless. Its unwavering feminism is resolutely modern, resonating with a range of texts from Ursula Le Guin’s 2001 Tales from Earthsea to Disney’s Frozen. At the same time, it feels authentically ancient and mythic.”– The Guardian

”The first book in a very unusual fantasy/fairytale trilogy, bristling with feminism, inner darkness and intellectual questions” – The Daily Mail


 

RED ABBEY CHRONICLES

#1 Maresi, Schildts & Söderströms 2014 180 pp.
#2 Naondel, Förlaget , 2016, 400 pp.
#3 Breven från Maresi, Förlaget, 2018, 300 pp.

Rights sold:

Original publisher: FINLAND, Schildts & Söderströms (Book 1)
Original publisher: FINLAND, Förlaget (Books 2-3)

ALBANIA: Dritan (Book 1-2)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran (Book 1-2)
BELGIUM, Clavis (Book 1-2)
BRAZIL, Morro Branco (Books 1-3)
BULGARIA, Izida (Books 1-3)
CANADA (French), Editions de la Bagnole (Book 1)
CHINA (Simplified), Shanghai 99 (Books 1-3)
CROATIA, Naklada ljevak (Book 1)
DENMARK, Turbine (Book 1)
ESTONIA, Varrak (Book 1-2)
FINLAND, Tammi (Books 1-2)
FRANCE, Rageot (Books 1-2)
GERMANY, Random House/Heyne (Book 1)
HUNGARY, Scolar (Books 1-3)
ITALY, Atmosphere Libri (Books 1-3)
KOREA: Gimm-Young Publishers
LATVIA, Petergailis (Book 1-2)
LITHUANIA: Aukso Pieva (Book 1)
NETHERLANDS, Clavis (Book 1-2)
NORWAY, Gursli Berg Forlag (Books 1-3)
POLAND, Wydawnictwo Debit (Books 1-3)
ROMANIA, Univers (Books 1-2)
WORLD SPANISH, Penguin Random House/Alfaguara (Book 1)
SWEDEN, Berghs (Books 1-2)
TURKEY, Altın Kitaplar (Book 1)
UNITED KINGDOM, Pushkin Press (Books 1-3)
UNITED STATES, Abrams (Books 1-3)

FILM & TV Rights: The Bureau/Film4

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, 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 21 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

Bibliography


2024, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Manticore

Maria Turtschaninoff


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

Russian rights for STORMSEYE by Meri Luttinen sold to Eksmo!

We are really happy to let you know that the award-winning historical debut STORMSEYE has found its first international publisher. Russian rights have been pre-empted by Eksmo –  the biggest publishing house in Russia. Among Eksmo’s authors who write books for the youth market are Naomi Novik, Terry Pratchett, Soman Chainani, Dan Poblocki, Jonathan Stroud, Julie Berry, as well as many notable Russian authors. Moreover, it is one of the leaders in the modern Russian book market.

“We are glad to bring joy to our readers with such a wonderful book as Stormseye (Myrskynsilmä) by Meri Luttinen. It is an inspiring story that will certainly adorn our publishing portfolio. This is a book about a young girl looking for the place she belongs – exactly what we have been looking for a long time!”
– Alexey Smirnov, Foreign Rights Manager, Eksmo, Russia

Download English sample and synopsis here!


Topelius Prize Winner 2020! Nominated for both Kuvastaja Award and Finlandia Prize for Children’s & YA literature 2020.

A beautiful historical fantasy adventure set in the ancient Finnish fantasy world where a young woman finds her own place in the society

On a long midsummer night, when the sun never really sets, sixteen year-old Kainu stands at the edge of a series of red circles drawn in ochre on the ground.

All young girls in her village discover what their future role in life is going to be by taking part in this ancient and traditional “rite of the circles”. Girls usually find that they end up in one of the more common circles that points them in the direction of roles such as matrons, mothers, or craftswomen. No one even dreams about the five most unique and select innermost circles, usually reserved for shamans and sages. Not one single girl has ever found themselves directed to one of the special circles for hundreds of years.

However, when Kainu enters the very middle circle which is that of a Great Sage, heavy responsibilities fall on her, and she has to go on a long journey to find out who she really is.

Praise:

“Set in an ancient Finnish fantasy world, the debut novel is a great story of a young woman growing up, it deals with difference, loneliness and overcoming one’s own fears.” – Topelius Prize Jury

“Meri Luttinen is a skillful writer, her debut novel Myrskynsilmä is a masterful story that progresses effortlessly.” – Kirjavinkit blog

“The language of the book is highly nuanced, and the narrative flows like a gushy stream. Despite its volume, the novel is a real page-turner.” – Lastenkirjahylly Blog

“The Finlandia Prize Nominee YA book Stormseye expands on the subject of being seen and being seen in the right way. — The story haunted me.” – Kangasalan Sanomat newspaper

STORMSEYE
Myrskynsilmä
WSOY, 2020, 397 pp.

 

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
RUSSIA: Eksmo

About author


Meri Luttinen

Meri Luttinen is an award-winning Finnish debut writer from Tampere. Her debut Stormseye won the Topelius prize and was nominated for both Kuvastaja Award and Finlandia Prize for Children's & YA literature in 2020.

She has a Master's degree in Finnish language and literature and has worked teaching Finnish and creating study materials. Luttinen is fascinated by everyday life in different eras and wants to transport readers to other worlds with her texts.

Bibliography


2020, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Stormseye

Meri Luttinen

TOP 8 Bestselling Nordic Fiction titles this Frankfurt Season!

As the Frankfurt Book Fair is now in progress, it’s a great possibility to take a look at our bestselling Fiction titles in this season – see if you have missed something!


TOP 8 Fiction titles:

1. Martta Kaukonen – FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY
8 rights sold since August!

Ida, 20, a serial killer who was abducted as a child, starts therapy with celebrity therapist Clarissa. Only one of them knows that they share a mutual secret from the past. Will the other one realize it before she gets murdered?

Rights still available in Russia, Denmark, Sweden, US, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, France, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.


2.-3.  Emmi Itäranta – MOONDAY LETTERS
4 rights sold since August!

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

Rights still available in Estonia, Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Latvia, France, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.


 

2.-3 Martta Kaukonen – Sequel to FOLLOW THE BUTTERFLY
4 rights sold since August!

Rights still available in Russia, Denmark, Sweden, US, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, France, Netherlands etc.


4.-5. Elina Backman – STILL WATERS RUN DEEP 
3 rights sold since August!

Three young men are making a documentary film about a mystical hermit, living in the Isle of Sheep in Helsinki. First one of them disappears, then another one. When one of them is found dead in the nearby nature reserve, the police becomes involved.

Rights still available in Denmark, US, Turkey, France, Latvia, Korea, Iceland, Bulgaria, UK, Spain, Japan, Greece, Serbia etc.

Read more here.


4.-5. Minna Lindgren  – DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE 
3 rights sold since August!
Who could imagine that anything illegal – whether it be suspicious deaths, thefts or the covert trading of medications – could happen in Sunset Grove retirement home? Its 90-year-old residents Siiri and Irma certainly can’t.

Rights still available in Russia, Norway, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Korea etc.
Read more here.


6.-8 Elina Backman – ALL THE KING’S MEN 
2 rights sold since August!
Saana has been fired from her job as a click-bait journalist, so she decides to spend a summer with her aunt in a small-town Hartola. It sounds like a perfect opportunity to take it easy and recover. But when Saana begins to dig into a case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken.

Rights still available in Denmark, US, Turkey, France, Latvia, Korea, Iceland, Bulgaria, UK, Spain, Japan, Greece, Serbia etc.
Read more here.


6.-8 Ann-Luise Bertell – HOMESTEAD
2 rights sold since August!

When Elof is ten years old, his father dies, leaving him and his little brother Ivar alone at the mercy of their relatives. Fear becomes their companion throughout life – a companion who can only be disciplined by the joy of storytelling, alcohol and women.
This intense family chronicle asks the question; what is the price you have to pay, if you never get to be yourself?

Rights still available in Russia, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Turkey etc.

Read more here.


6.-8 Johanna Sinisalo – THE STORM FLUTE
2 rights sold since August!

A merchant named Jonah, living in Assyria 600 years before the common era, gets caught in a storm. Is the storm a curse from God, or is it his own doing? In Finland in the 2010’s, Leena Lind loves her job as a meteorologist, but the activities of an aggressive finance company have her wasting her expertise at menial tasks. When her daughter Leia plays a game that involves making a video of a thunderstorm, Leena’s life is blown irretrievably off track and soon no one is safe anymore.

Rights still available in Estonia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Turkey, Netherlands etc.

Read more here.

PS! Don’t forget about FILI grants!

Do you have a perfect Finnish literature project in mind but would need some support for the translation costs?

We are happy to let you know that FILI translation grant application period started on October 1st and ends on November 1st! The grant can cover up to 70% of your Finnish/Finland-Swedish translation project.

Last period, over 100 projects were awarded a grant! Read more from: https://fili.fi/…/finnish-literature-into-other-languages/


Three new Fiction deals: Johanna Sinisalo’s STORM FLUTE and BLOOD OF ANGELS and Minna Lindgren’s DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE!

We are extremely happy to announce three new Fiction deals!

Johanna Sinisalo’s THE STORM FLUTE has been acquired by Danish publisher Jensen & Dalgaard

We are thrilled about Ukkoshuilu – ‘The Storm Flute’ and are enthusiastically looking forward to working with this beautiful novel of important urgency; the fourth of Sinisalo’s novels to be published in Danish.
– Jeanne Dalgaard, Publisher, Jensen & Dalgaard, Denmark

THE STORM FLUTE is a masterful novel about the thin line between knowledge and belief, a love letter to the weather – a fierce, global story of the destructive power of the human desire for control. 

Download the English synopsis and sample for STORM FLUTE by clicking here


Johanna Sinisalo’s BLOOD OF ANGELS translation rights have been sold to Hungarian publisher Metropolis!
Metropolis is the Hungarian publisher for Arthur C. Clarke, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, John Wyndham etc

When mass bee-vanishings of unprecedented scope and devastation hit the United States, Orvo, a beekeeper, knows all too well where it will lead. And one day, when Orvo goes to check on his hives, he is forced to witness something he wishes he had never lived to see. The queen is dead. The epidemic has spread to Europe. The world is coming to an end.

Download the full English pdf for BLOOD OF ANGELS by clicking here


And last but not least – Minna Lindgren’s DEATH IN SUNSET GROVE – the first title in the SUNSET GROVE cosy crime series has now been sold to Hungarian publisher Kossuth! 

#1 Death in Sunset Grove

Imagine the Sunset Grove retirement home – filled mostly with bored residents, with empty time filled with never-ending arts and crafts sessions, gym classes, accordion evenings and glasses of red wine.
When two 90-year-old inhabitants – Irma and Siiri – decide to take upon them an investigation of a suspicious death of the retirement home cook, all that is about to change!
#2 Escape from Sunset Grove

Sunset Grove retirement home turns into a kind of hell when it is taken over by foreign construction workers cursing fluently in Finnish. The noise is deafening, a hole appears in the wall, things disappear and residents have to use a portable toilet.

Residents Siiri, Irma and Anna-Liisa, all older than 90, decide to move into a shared apartment in the exotic neighbourhood of Hakaniemi. All three have their own habits and quirks, and life together isn’t entirely free of friction. The women also learn about the sad differences in quality with at-home assistance, and are forced to become familiar with terminal care and questions surrounding euthanasia.
#3 The End of Sunset Grove

The final part of the trilogy marks a return to the retirement community. But the place no longer feels like home, and has turned into a state-funded, technology-driven pilot project in elderly care. The conclusion brings together characters lost along the way, and murky details are brought to light. Legal justice is also served – in unexpected ways. A natural, long-awaited death finally collects some, but still not all, of our main characters.

Download the full English pdfs for THE SUNSET GROVE TRILOGY by clicking here

 


PS! Don’t forget about FILI grants!

Do you have a perfect Finnish literature project in mind but would need some support for the translation costs?

We are happy to let you know that FILI translation grant application period started on October 1st and ends on November 1st! The grant can cover up to 70% of your Finnish/Finland-Swedish translation project.

Last period, over 100 projects were awarded a grant! Read more from: https://fili.fi/…/finnish-literature-into-other-languages/

Ukkoshuilu
Otava, August 2021, 400pp

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
HUNGARY: Metropolis


 

Enkelten verta
Tammi 2011, 275pp
Rights sold:

FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group
POLAND: Foksal Publishing Group
UNITED KINGDOM: Peter Owen Limited


 

Kuolema ehtoolehdossa
Teos 2013, 305pp

Ehtoolehdon pakolaiset
Teos 2014, 256pp

Ehtoolehdon tuho
Teos 2015, 289pp

SUNSET GROVE SERIES rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC: XYZ
DENMARK: Jensen & Dalgaard
ESTONIA: Varrak
FRANCE: Calmann-Lévy
GERMANY: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
HUNGARY: Kossuth
ITALY: Marsilio
SLOVAKIA: Albatros Media Slovakia s.r.o.
SPAIN: Santillana
SWEDEN: Norstedts
WORLD ENGLISH: Pan Macmillan

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

About author


Minna Lindgren

Minna Lindgren (b. 1963) is a freelance journalist and columnist known for her whimsical writing style and fearless approach to topics as strange as opera and death. In addition to novels, she has authored nonfiction books on classical music. In 2009 Lindgren won the Bonnier Journalism Prize for her article entitled “Father’s Death” (“Isän kuolema”).

Lindgren is best known for the Sunset Grove trilogy, which has been sold to 17 territories, and the final part, The End of Sunset Grove, was nominated for the International Dublin Literature Award in 2019. She has also written three standalones: Angry Widow (2018), A Far Far Love (2019) and Hope Never Dies (2020).

Minna Lindgren’s books have been critical and commercial successes, in Finland and internationally.

Emmi Itäranta’s MOONDAY LETTERS Czech rights sold to Albatros, MEMORY OF WATER to VBZ in Croatia!

Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors: Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, James Tiptree Jr. Honoree, and author of MEMORY OF WATER, which sold now in 22 languages.

Her latest Fantasy/Sci-Fi title MOONDAY LETTERS was published last Fall to amazing reviews and won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for the Best Finnish Science Fiction Book 2020!


Now we are really happy to announce deals for both of those amazing titles!

THE MOONDAY LETTERS, which just had World English rights sold to Titan Books, World English Audio to Recorded books and Hungarian rights to Metropolis, has now been acquired by Kniha Zlin (imprint of Albatros Media) in Czech Republic. Now the book will be published in 4 languages!

CZECH PRAISE:

Emmi Itäranta is an outstanding voice of the contemporary Finnish literature. Her new book MOONDAY LETTERS seems to be a work of genre, but it is much more than a sci-fi or cli-fi novel as it deals with both everlasting and burning up-to-date themes in a unique poetic frame and language. I am thrilled that we can present it to Czech readers in cooperation with the experienced translator Michal Švec.
 – Jitka Hanušová, Kniha Zlin, Albatros Media, Czech Republic

Download the full English ms for MOONDAY LETTERS by clicking here


MEMORY OF WATER found its 22nd publisher from Croatia – the new addition to the family is VBZ!
The rights have been sold to 22 countries, but are still available in Poland, Romania, Netherlands, Albania, Slovakia, Greece, Serbia, Portugal etc.

Download the full English ms for MEMORY OF WATER by clicking here

That is not all! A film based on MEMORY OF WATER is coming out in 2022! See more info here.


THE MOONDAY LETTERS
by Emmi Itäranta

A space-age love story that blends fantasy, cli-fi, and suspense, and follows a healer whose search for her elusive partner leads to a mysterious journey through time, space, science, and myth in which Earth’s future hangs in the balance.


The Moonday Letters is a beautifully crafted and hauntingly written mystery that successfully combines many elements of science-fiction, and I’m delighted to have it on Titan’s list!
– Cat Camacho, Senior Editor, Titan Books, UK

When I started reading The Moonday Letters, I was transported very quickly into the world Emmi had created, and was tantalized by the mystery – and relationships – I was discovering. The Recorded Books team and I are very happy to bring it to audio listeners everywhere.
 – Catherine Wallach,  Senior Acquisitions Editor,  Recorded Books, USA


THE MEMORY OF WATER
by Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water is a story of growing up, of the power of friendship – and, above all, of undying hope in a wrecked world.

Emmi Itäranta‘s debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) won the Teos Fantasy and Sci-fi Literary Contest in 2011 and earned her the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize for young authors, worth 16.000 euros, in December 2012. She also received the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize in 2013.

The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been keepers of natural springs for centuries, Memory of Water tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. When her father dies, she finds herself alone with the dangerous responsibility of guarding a hidden spring that can save lives – or provoke people to kill.

As war spreads into her homeland, Noria’s loyalties are torn between keeping her duty and helping her dearest friend Sanja, whose family can barely survive on their water rations. Together the girls unearth knowledge about the past that has remained buried too long and begin to plan a journey to the Lost Lands, forbidden areas that might hold unexplored water resources.

Yet the web of the military is closing in on Noria’s secret. Sanja disappears mysteriously, and Noria is placed under house arrest. Knowing her own life is in danger, Noria must face a choice in order to secure the hidden information for others.

Kuunpäivän kirjeet, Teos, September 2020, 300 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)

CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros/Kniha Zlin
HUNGARY: Metropolis
WORLD ENGLISH: Titan Books
WORLD ENGLISH (audio): Recorded Books

 

Teemestarin kirja, Teos, September 2012, 266 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

ARABIC: Dar al Muna
BRAZIL: Editora Record Ltda
BULGARIA: Perseus Publishing House
CHINA: Sichuan People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd.
CROATIA: VBZ
CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media a.s./ Plus Publishers
DENMARK: Turbine
ESTONIA: Koolibri Publishers
FRANCE: Presses de la Cite
GEORGIA: Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY: Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media Group Kft.
ITALY: Sperling & Kupfer
LATVIA: Jana Rozes Apgads
NORWAY: Gresvik Forlag AS
RUSSIA: TEXT
SPAIN: Ediciones B
SWEDEN: Modernista
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperVoyager

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta’s MOONDAY LETTERS World English, World English audio and Hungarian rights sold!

Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors: Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, James Tiptree Jr. Honoree, and Author of MEMORY OF WATER, which sold in 21 languages.

She worked on her latest Fantasy/Sci-Fi title Moonday Letters for three and a half years while the world went through increasing turmoil.

The book was published last Fall to amazing reviews and won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for the Best Finnish Science Fiction Book 2020!

Now we are really happy to announce three deals at once for the amazing title!
The World English rights have been sold to Titan Books (print and e-book), and Recorder Books (audio).
The deals were negotiated by Rhea Lyons at HG Literary on behalf of Elina Ahlback at Elina Ahlback Literary Agency.

And last but not least, the Hungarian rights were acquired by Metropolis!


THE MOONDAY LETTERS
by Emmi Itäranta

A space-age love story that blends fantasy, cli-fi, and suspense, and follows a healer whose search for her elusive partner leads to a mysterious journey through time, space, science, and myth in which Earth’s future hangs in the balance.

Download the full English ms by clicking here


The Moonday Letters is a beautifully crafted and hauntingly written mystery that successfully combines many elements of science-fiction, and I’m delighted to have it on Titan’s list!
– Cat Camacho, Senior Editor, Titan Books, UK

When I started reading The Moonday Letters, I was transported very quickly into the world Emmi had created, and was tantalized by the mystery – and relationships – I was discovering. The Recorded Books team and I are very happy to bring it to audio listeners everywhere.
 – Catherine Wallach,  Senior Acquisitions Editor,  Recorded Books, USA

Not surprisingly, Emmi Itäranta thinks of herself more as an architect than an author. Her writing process includes work that’s not visible to the reader. When Itäranta creates her fictitious world, she first digs up the tiniest details; for instance, the geography, the most common cultivated plants, the different phases of the moon. With her latest piece, she had to do background work on space colonies plus investigate shamanism and varying types of lichen. 
– Venla Rossi, Image magazine, October 2020, Finland

Kuunpäivän kirjeet, Teos, September 2020, 300 pp.

Rights sold:

FINLAND: Teos (orig.)

HUNGARY: Metropolis
WORLD ENGLISH (print,e-book):
Titan Books
WORLD ENGLISH (audio):
Recorded Books

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Hungarian rights acquired for the new fantasy novel THE STORM FLUTE by Johanna Sinisalo

We are extremely happy to announce that Johanna Sinisalo’s THE STORM FLUTE translation rights have been sold to Hungarian publisher Metropolis!

Metropolis is the Hungarian publisher for Arthur C. Clarke, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, John Wyndham etc

The Storm Flute is a masterful novel about the thin line between knowledge and belief, a love letter to the weather – a fierce, global story of the destructive power of the human desire for control. 

Sinisalo’s strong and clever composition of words is an enjoyable read; the story is a powerhouse just like a surprising thunder front should be.
– Kulttuuri kukoistaa blog, Finland 01.09.21

Download the English synopsis and sample by clicking here


THE STORM FLUTE
by Johanna Sinisalo

Beauty comes in many forms—stunning, exciting, thrilling, perilous. The weather has all of them.

Predicting or altering the weather is the eternal dream of humanity. A merchant named Jonah, living in Assyria 600 years before the common era, gets caught in a storm. Is the storm a curse from God, or is it his own doing? In Finland in the 2010’s, Leena Lind loves her job as a meteorologist, but the activities of an aggressive finance company have her wasting her expertise at menial tasks. When her daughter Leia plays a game that involves making a video of a thunderstorm, Leena’s life is blown irretrievably off track and soon no one is safe anymore.

 

Johanna Sinisalo is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her eight novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

kkoshuilu
Otava, August 2021, 400pp

RIGHTS SOLD:

FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
HUNGARY: Metropolis

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo

AUTHORS’ AUGUST ends on a high note: watch Maria Turtschaninoff describe the ideas behind her bestselling YA Fantasy novels

Authors’ August ends on a high note!

Watch how bestselling YA Fantasy author Maria Turtschaninoff describes becoming a writer and the ideas behind the worlds she has created.

Elina Ahlback Literary Agency has produced in collaboration with Kintsugi Agency five cinematic Author Videos.
In Authors’ August,
 we are extremely proud to launch these unique author videos one by one.

In previous weeks we have launched Laura LindstedtMax SeeckSalla Simukka and A.M. Ollikainen and this week we are happy to end the Authors’ August on a high note with Maria Turtschaninoff!

See all 5 videos here.

Maria Turtschaninoff: “I crawled into every wardrobe I could find and I was very disappointed that none of them ever lead to Narnia”

We thank the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture for their financial support of the video project.

Red Abbey Chronicles by Maria Turtschaninoff

MARESI
The Red Abbey is a refuge for women and girls, where everyone pursues their own areas of interest. Maresi prefers to spend her time reading and learning. Everything changes when the frightened Jai arrives on the island. She has seen her sister get buried alive for speaking to a young man, and her father and a crew of thugs are after her. Maresi and her friends have to fight to defend both Jai and their community.

NAONDEL
An independent prequel to Maresi, Naondel tells the story of the First Sisters – founders of the Red Abbey. Imprisoned in a harem by a dangerous man, with a dark magic that grants him power over life and death, the women must overcome their mistrust of each other in order to escape. But they can only do so at a great cost, both for those who leave and those left behind.

MARESI: RED MANTLE
The third book is an epistolary novel that follows Maresi after she leaves the Red Abbey to establish a school in her oppressed home province of Rovas. The return to her Northern home, and fitting in, is not easy even with all the knowledge she’s bringing with her, but she is determined to triumph over the difficulties. However, she does not need to make it alone, for life has yet another surprise in store: love.

Download full English pdfs for the series here

Praise for the series:
“Maresi stands out for its startling originality, and for the frightening plausibility of the dangerous world it creates” – Rebecca Hawkes, Telegraph

“It’s rare to find a YA fantasy with such polished writing… Utterly satisfying and completely different” – Booklist, starred review

“Dark, powerful and original… it really stands out in a very crowded YA marketplace. Thrilling, suspenseful and gloriously feminist” – The Bookseller

“It’s hard not to be impressed with Turtschaninoff’s magical world”
– The Times

”The novel is at once contemporary and timeless. Its unwavering feminism is resolutely modern, resonating with a range of texts from Ursula Le Guin’s 2001 Tales from Earthsea to Disney’s Frozen. At the same time, it feels authentically ancient and mythic.”
– The Guardian

”The first book in a very unusual fantasy/fairytale trilogy, bristling with feminism, inner darkness and intellectual questions”
– The Daily Mail

RED ABBEY CHRONICLES

#1 Maresi, Schildts & Söderströms 2014 180pp
#2 Naondel, Förlaget , 2016, 400pp
#3 Breven från Maresi, Förlaget, 2018, 300pp

Rights sold or the series:

Original publisher: FINLAND, (Book 1)
Original publisher: FINLAND, Förlaget (Books 2-3)

ALBANIA: Dritan (Book 1-2)
AZERBAIJAN: Alatoran (Book 1-2)
BELGIUM, Clavis (Book 1-2)
BRAZIL, Morro Branco (Books 1-3)
BULGARIA, Izida (Books 1-3)
CANADA (French), Editions de la Bagnole (Book 1)
CHINA (Simplified), Shanghai 99 (Books 1-3)
CROATIA, Naklada ljevak (Book 1)
DENMARK, Turbine (Book 1)
ESTONIA, Varrak (Book 1-2)
FINLAND, Tammi (Books 1-2)
FRANCE, Rageot (Books 1-2)
GERMANY, Random House/Heyne (Book 1)
HUNGARY, Scolar (Books 1-3)
ITALY, Atmosphere Libri (Books 1-3)
LATVIA, Petergailis (Book 1-2)
LITHUANIA: Aukso Pieva (Book 1)
NETHERLANDS, Clavis (Book 1-2)
NORWAY, Gursli Berg Forlag (Books 1-3)
POLAND, Wydawnictwo Debit (Books 1-3)
ROMANIA, Univers (Books 1-2)
WORLD SPANISH, Penguin Random House/Alfaguara (Book 1)
SWEDEN, Berghs (Books 1-2)
TURKEY, Altın Kitaplar (Book 1)
UNITED KINGDOM, Pushkin Press (Books 1-3)
UNITED STATES, Abrams (Books 1-3)

FILM & TV Rights: The Bureau/Film4

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, 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 21 territories. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

Bibliography


2024, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Manticore

Maria Turtschaninoff


2022, Literary Fiction

Inherited Land

Maria Turtschaninoff


2018, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi: Red Mantle

Maria Turtschaninoff


2016, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Naondel

Maria Turtschaninoff


2014, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Maresi

Maria Turtschaninoff

EALA Fall 2021 Fiction Rights Guide is here!

The EALA Fall 2021 Rights Guide is here!

Our titles represent the best in literary fiction and in Nordic Noir, Crime and Thrillers in the Crime Fiction category with awarded authors.

Browse the catalogue here. We have chosen two titles for you to enjoy, read along….

Guide Me, Butterfly
By Martta Kaukonen

An addictive psychological thriller in the spirit of Gillian Flynn! It’s a sensational debut that has a new take on suspense.

Ida, 20, a serial killer who was abducted as a child, starts therapy with celebrity therapist Clarissa. Only one of them knows that they share a mutual secret from the past. Will the other one realize it before she gets murdered?

Clarissa is a middle-aged psychotherapist, the best in her field. She is familiar to everyone from her TV appearances and from glossy magazines. For her, every patient is a princess. And someone only she can save. Or can she? Clarissa already has one suicide to answer for; a teenage boy’s death never seizes to haunt her.

When Ida becomes Clarissa’s patient, a cat-and-mouse game begins in which rules are followed by no one. The kind of game that never ends well.

Praise:
“Martta Kaukonen has already been named as Finland´s own Gillian Flynn and undeniably there’s a truth behind the statement. This hooking thriller spins you masterfully! Guide Me, Butterfly is a dizzening work! While reading one presumes that everything is as presented in the beginning of the book, only to realize, on the final page, that nothing was as the reader imagined! The most baffling bit is that in her debut Martta Kaukonen succeeds in spinning a most intricate plot from one surprise to another, and on to the next one, yet keeping the story logical and —–credible.”-Kirsi’s Book Club

More Crime Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here

The Storm Flute
By Johanna SinisaloA masterful novel about the thin line between knowledge and belief, the Storm Flute is a love letter to the weather – a fierce, global story of the destructive power of the human desire for control. Predicting or altering the weather is the eternal dream of humanity. A merchant named Jonah, living in Assyria 600 years before the common era, gets caught in a storm. Is the storm a curse from God, or is it his own doing? In Finland in the 2010’s, Leena Lind loves her job as a meteorologist, but the activities of an aggressive finance company have her wasting her expertise at menial tasks. When her daughter Leia plays a game that involves making a video of a thunderstorm, Leena’s life is blown irretrievably off track and soon no one is safe anymore.More Literary Fiction titles in our new catalogue: click here
… but that is not all! We have plenty of more: mesmerizing, intruiging, captivating books for you in our Fall 2021 digital catalogue, browse the full list here.

It would be great to talk about these and other titles with you!
Book an EALA Zoom meeting for the fall season via e-mail: info@ahlbackagency.com

See you soon!

Team EALA,
Elina, Toomas, Ebba and Linda


Emmi Itäranta wins Tähtivaeltaja Award and Saara Turunen goes to #1 on the Finnish Bestseller List!

Fantastic news from the Fantasy world: with her book MOONDAY LETTERS, Emmi Itäranta has received The Tähtivaeltaja Award for the Best Finnish Science Fiction Book 2020!

According to the jury composed of experts, MOONDAY LETTERS has a style that is clear and crisp and very fluent. The jury says: “The author’s strong vision of the solar system shows us the direction we are heading at. Simultaneously it poses the question: are we changing while our everyday and our place of living change and what kind of a price are we paying for all this.” “Another poignant theme in the book is ecology. The vista into a collapsed and abandoned crust that humans have sucked empty, is cautionary and prophetic. This makes MOONDAY LETTERS astutely topical.”

Praise:

“Itäranta’s language is beautiful, and depictions almost poetic. The story grows, as emotions, clues, past, secrets and truth open like flowers. The plot flows forward and the mystery keeps readers hooked up. And it is a pleasure to read.” – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

Download full English manuscript

With her fresh new novel IRRATIONAL THINGS, Saara Turunen tops the official Finnish Bestseller list and goes to No.1

Praise:

“We are honored to be the first foreign publishers of this masterly Work by Saara Turunen. We believe that its subject is a matter of great relevance in the face of the modern life-style and the readers will relate with and feel for the main heroine.”-Ieva Savukynaitė-Dubicka, BALTO, Lithuania

Download materials from here.


Only 2 weeks left to apply to FILI translation grants from Finnish and Finland Swedish!

Apply now:
The unique translation grant system in Finland gives you an opportunity to finance your translation costs up to 70%  read more here:  https://fili.fi/en/grants/

The Spring application period started on 1st of April and will be closed on 1st of May.

Please note that only translations from Finnish or Finnish-Swedish to foreign languages will be supported.

Translators:
We will advise you to find the best possible translators, and in some cases, you can also translate from English.  Find more information about translators here: https://kaantopiiri.fi/en/search-translators/

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MOONDAY LETTERS
Teos, 2020

Rights sold:
FINLAND Teos (orig.)

Reading materials:
Full English manuscript

 

 

IRRATIONAL THINGS
Tammi, 2021

Rights sold:
FINLAND:Tammi (orig.)
LITHUANIA: Balto

Reading materials:
Long English sample, synopsis

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

About author


Saara Turunen

Saara Turunen is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director. Much of her work examines the themes of art, identity and social norms. Turunen is known for her three highly acclaimed novels - Irrational Things (2021), The Bystander (2018) and Love/Monster (2015), but also for her work in theatre. Her plays have been translated into 15 languages and performed all around the world. Turunen was awarded with the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in 2015, with the Finland Prize in 2016, with the City of Helsinki’s The Artist of the Year Award in 2018 and with the Lea-Prize in 2020, all high-profile awards given in Finland.

Her latest novel Irrational Things (2021) became an immediate bestseller and a critical darling. It has already sold over 20,000 copies in Finland.

Meri Luttinen’s STORMSEYE wins Topelius Prize

Congratulations to our author Meri Luttinen, whose debut novel, a YA fantasy Stormseye (Myrskynsilmä, WSOY 2020) has won prestigious Topelius Prize.

“Set in an ancient Finnish fantasy world, the debut novel is a great story of a young woman growing up, it deals with difference, loneliness and overcoming one’s own fears.” – Topelius Prize Jury

Topelius Prize is given yearly for the best young adult novel. Stormseye was also nominated for Finlandia Prize for Children’s & YA Literature 2020.

About author


Meri Luttinen

Meri Luttinen is an award-winning Finnish debut writer from Tampere. Her debut Stormseye won the Topelius prize and was nominated for both Kuvastaja Award and Finlandia Prize for Children's & YA literature in 2020.

She has a Master's degree in Finnish language and literature and has worked teaching Finnish and creating study materials. Luttinen is fascinated by everyday life in different eras and wants to transport readers to other worlds with her texts.

Bibliography


2020, Young Adult (13 or 14+)

Stormseye

Meri Luttinen

Emmi Itäranta’s brilliant third novel THE MOONDAY LETTERS published today

Emmi Itäranta is one of the most internationally successful contemporary Finnish authors. Her first novel MEMORY OF WATER is published in 23 territories, and filming of the movie has begun this fall.

The Moonday Letters by award-winning author Emmi Itäranta, focuses on big themes. It is dedicated to all those who have lost their homes. Itäranta worked on The Moonday Letters for three and a half years while the world went through increasing turmoil. The climate crisis grew more urgent, authoritarianism and populism gained more ground in world politics. The novel did not strive to directly reflect these issues, but they could not help but filter into the fictional reality of the book.
Emmi Itäranta tells about the writing process:

“Years ago my editor cleverly planted the idea in my mind that there were not many space operas by Finnish authors, and that it might be interesting to see some. The thought began to take root. In January 2017 the first image of the story emerged in my imagination: a woman is sitting in a coffee shop on the Moon, watching Earth from there and thinking that she can never return to her home planet. The image spoke to me not only of a future world, but also of loss and longing for home. The book grew around these themes.”   “And on top of it all I completed the book in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.”

“As I was putting the finishing touches on the book, the parallels with the current reality took even me by surprise.” Itäranta, who lives in the United Kingdom and is currently visiting Finland, says The Moonday Letters portrays first and foremost the grief of losing Earth, the only home of the human species, as it was.

“I believe we are already living in the middle of this grief in relation to the loss of biodiversity and the climate crisis that we see all around us. I also believe it is possible and meaningful to process these feelings of loss through fiction.”

 

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

2020 Fiction Fall Rights Guide is published!

We are proud to announce that our 2020 Fall Rights Guide is published, and this time it is completely digital.

What’s new: Author videos! 360 views on books
Browse different categories from the top menu, see 360 degree views of the titles and enjoy video clips from our authors. Ask for materials by only clicking a button.

Browse the fiction list here

We are super excited about our list! Below we have introduced our brand-new fiction titles. Take a look and get in touch to register your interest and request English materials!


WHEN THE KING DIES by Elina Backman

Beginning of a new detective series – already an international hit!

  • Rights sold to 8 countries and counting.
  • Immediate bestseller in Finland! Amazing reviews!
  • International TV series in development!

Saana is a former click-bait journalist who spends a summer in a quiet town of Hartola. But when she begins to dig into a case of a teenage girl who died 30 years earlier, the peace of the small town is shaken. Meanwhile in Helsinki a crime investigator Jan Leino is solving a murder at King’s Gate at Suomenlinna Sea Fortress. Saana and Jan continue working on their own cases until their paths cross – for more than one reason.

 

Rights sold in 2-book-deals:  FINLAND: Otava (orig.), CZECH REPUBLIC: Grada (Book 1), ESTONIA: Varrak, GERMANY: Piper Verlag, LITHUANIA: BALTO (Book1), NETHERLANDS: De Bezige Bij/Cargo, NORWAY: Cappelen Damm, SWEDEN: Bokfabriken, FILM & TV RIGHTS: tba

Book 2 coming in Summer 2021.

Reading materials: English sample & synopis – click here to request them

Author bio:
Elina Backman, is a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki, in an old wooden 1920 house with a family of 2 kids and a husband. Elina loves books (all sorts), travelling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club.


IRRATIONAL THINGS by Saara Turunen

Autofictive story of love, death and life between two countries. Turunen’s funny, witty and melancholic voice examines the contradiction of sense and sensibility.

The narrator travels to Barcelona to study theatre. After a few weeks she falls in love with a local man. Thus begins an intensive relationship that tears her between two countries and two cultures. She learns that relationships are between two individuals who have their own ways of expressing love to others and to themselves.

Click here to watch the author video

Reading materials: English sample available in September

Author bio: 
Saara Turunen is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director. She is known for her bold and direct style and much of her work examines the themes of identity and social norms.


THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WORD by Emmi Pesonen

Warm, humorous and beautiful debut novel from the point of view of a stepmother. Patchwork family life, and new beginnings.

  • Feature film in development by Aurora Studios

Amanda’s life is revolutionized when Onni curves into her life with a yellow minibus, four children riding along. She has been living an extended youth and cared mainly for her house plants and herself until she met Onni and his kids. Happiness, the laundry pile and the dish mountains grow in their new home. Everything is always lost, and the house is permanently messy, but Amanda firmly believes that love conquers all obstacles. But when Onni’s behavior starts to get weirder, she has to decide if love truly fixes everything.

Click here to watch the author video

Reading materials: English sample and synopsis available in September

Author bio:
Emmi Pesonen is a Helsinki-based writer, screenwriter and actress. She graduated in 2001 as a Master of Theater Arts and has worked as an actor in several in theaters, movies, and TV series. Pesonen is bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) and she has translated and dramatized Swedish-language plays.


THE OTHERS OF US by Mooses Mentula

Meet Jack Kerouc, Charles Bukowski, Edgar Allan Poe and Jane Austen!

To escape the demands and responsibilities, Tino fetches a jar from the closet, digs out a pill, sets it on the back of his tongue, and accelerates the medicine’s journey to his stomach with some coffee.  He sinks into images of lives that are experienced elsewhere, at different times, through the eyes of other people. He suddenly finds himself writing only stories – and not just stories of the world outside, but he is also writing his own life into a story which events he is no longer able to control.

Click here to watch the author video

Rights sold: GERMANY: Weidle Verlag

Reading materials: English sample & synopsis – click here to request materials

Author bio:
Mooses Mentula works as a teacher, but writing is his passion. He strives for intelligence and challenge and aims for a simple surface. Most importantly, all of his books contain hope and warmth. The Others of Us is Mentula’s third novel and some of his works have been translated in German.

About author


Elina Backman

Elina Backman is an author and a media & marketing professional living in Helsinki. Elina loves books (all sorts), traveling, cycling and is a host of a Book & Wine Club. She is a creative soul with a commercial mind, and her goal is to find readers globally.

Her debut novel All the King's Men was published in 2020 and immediately gained an enormous amount of attention from the Finnish media, including a praising review by the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The Havas series is now a best-selling series in Finland and an international TV series is in development. Elina's books have sold over 70 000 copies in Finland.

Together with Heidi Holmavuo, Elina has also narrated the true crime podcast Ratkaisematon (Unsolved), which turned into a full-length audio book as the two crime writers started investigating the murder of a young girl in 1967. They were able to uncover new evidence and their research led the police to reopen the investigation. This story is narrated in the book Unsolved - The Case of Elli Immo.

About author


Emmi Pesonen

Emmi Pesonen (1977) is a Helsinki-based writer, screenwriter and actress. She graduated in 2001 as a Master of Theater Arts and has worked as an actor in several in theaters, movies, and TV series. Pesonen is bilingual (Finnish-Swedish) and she has translated and dramatized Swedish-language plays. She is also the screenwriter of a movie The Violin Player (Violinist, Mjölk Movies), which premiered in Finland in 2018, and has toured successfully at more than 20 film festivals around the world (including Gothenburg, Moscow, Singapore, Kaliningrad). The film deals with power structures in the art world, passion and giving up.  The Most Beautiful Word (Otava, August 2020) is Pesonen’s debut novel. The book tells a story of a patchwork family from the point of view of the new step-mother. It’s a story of endless love, irreversible decision and learning new things. The movie rights have been optioned by Aurora Studios and a film is currently being developed.

About author


Mooses Mentula

Mooses Mentula was born in Tuupovaara, Eastern Finland and grew up in Kuhmo, Kainuu. From the age of 16 he worked as a journalist for newspapers and radio for several years. He completed his master’s degree in education at the University of Lapland, worked as a journalist and teacher in the north, and moved to Tuusula, where he has lived with his family for 14 years. He works as a headteacher, but writing is his greatest passion.

For Mentula writing means creating worlds of his own and living in them. He strives for intelligence and challenge and aims for a simple surface. Most importantly, all of his books contain hope and warmth. He likes to think of his style similar to J.M. Coetzee and Haruki Murakami. The Others of Us is Mentula’s third novel and some of his works have been translated in German.

About author


Saara Turunen

Saara Turunen is an internationally acclaimed award-winning author, playwright and director. Much of her work examines the themes of art, identity and social norms. Turunen is known for her three highly acclaimed novels - Irrational Things (2021), The Bystander (2018) and Love/Monster (2015), but also for her work in theatre. Her plays have been translated into 15 languages and performed all around the world. Turunen was awarded with the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize in 2015, with the Finland Prize in 2016, with the City of Helsinki’s The Artist of the Year Award in 2018 and with the Lea-Prize in 2020, all high-profile awards given in Finland.

Her latest novel Irrational Things (2021) became an immediate bestseller and a critical darling. It has already sold over 20,000 copies in Finland.

Praising reviews for Johanna Sinisalo’s STRANGERS INSIDE

Johanna Sinisalo’s new novel STRANGERS INSIDE was published in Finland a few weeks ago. The novel combines family drama, horror and science fiction into a stylish mix of genres – compared to Rosemary’s Baby and Stephen King. Strangers Inside has already gathered amazing reviews:

Psychological thriller featuring steadily intensifying tension, following one family’s journey to inevitable destruction.

Sinisalo has a wonderfully felicitous way of describing the slide from normal to weird. The internal dynamics of the family acquire ugly new features; the tensions grow as the strange events unfurl.

Stylish body-horror without any clichés. It is extremely relatable, as we all have bodies after all. This could almost happen to anyone of us. A human body has still some unknown elements  strangers inside.
 Five-star review from Turun Sanomat daily paper, Marissa Mehr 5.5.2020
Strangers Inside is classic horror updated! The tension grows beautifully and the horror seeps into the story nice and slow. It is a fresh and brilliant story that is both current and timeless.
– National Horror Competition Jury

About the book:
The marriage of Siiri and Essi is already going through a rough patch, but when their 6-year-old daughter is caught cutting herself with scissors, their family-life is thrown upside down. What could cause such a young child to something like that? Is there someone – or something – telling her to do so? The parents turn against each other while trying to find an outsider to blame, but sometimes the true threat comes from inside…

You can listen to Johanna Sinisalo’s interview (in Finnish) here: https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-50485050

Strangers Inside
Vieraat, Karisto 2020, 448 pp.

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.

Bibliography


2021, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Storm Flute

Johanna Sinisalo


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Strangers Inside

Johanna Sinisalo


2018, Fantasy & Science Fiction

IRON SKY: RENATE'S STORY

Johanna Sinisalo


2013, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Core of The Sun

Johanna Sinisalo


2011, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Blood of Angels

Johanna Sinisalo


2010, Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

The Möbius Twist

Johanna Sinisalo


2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Birdbrain

Johanna Sinisalo


2000, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Troll

Johanna Sinisalo

Apply for Finnish translation and printing grants now!

Do you need financial help with publishing and promoting your next Finnish bestseller?

Finnish Literature Exchange grants can help!
FILI’s grant programme is funded by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and it provides foreign publishers with various grants:

Translation grants
Up to 70% of translation costs from Finnish or Finland-Swedish can be covered by a FILI translation grant. There are 3 application periods in a year and the autumn application period has already started and it ends on 01.11.2019

Printing grants
If you are publishing translations of Finnish picture books or comics, you can apply for up to 1000€ printing cost grant. There are 3 application periods in a year and the autumn application period has already started and it ends on 01.11.2019

Promotional grants
If you would like to bring a Finnish author to your country to promote a translation of his/her works, you can apply for a grant that can be used for airfare and accommodation costs of the author. The grant must be applied for a minimum of 2 months before the event is happening.

What if you haven’t bought a Finnish title yet and would like to look into one?

Reader’s report grants
If you need a native speaker to give you a report of a Finnish manuscript, you can apply for a reader’s report grant (for up to 5 reports a year, max 100€ per report).

Sample translation grants
If you need a sample translation of the work which you are considering.


Now go pick out your next Finnish bestseller from our new Fall Catalogue and apply for the FILI grants already this month!

See the full conditions and apply for all the FILI grants here: https://www.finlit.fi/fili/en/grants/


EALA Fall Fiction Highlights and New Deals

Here is a round-up of all of our brand new fiction titles for this fall – and we’re announcing the first sales for these new books!

 

Browse the EALA Fall 2019 Fiction & Non-Fiction Catalogue here!

Or download our full Fall catalogue here!

 


Facelift by Miika Nousiainen

Rights sold in Germany!

Miika Nousiainen is the master of Finnish comedy!The German rights to his new novel Facelift (Pintaremontti, Otava 2020) were sold in a pre-empt to Kein & Aber prior the publication! Get ready for the funniest book of the year!

“Reading a novel by this author is like a scenic ride in a ropeway: a comfortable, entertaining spectacle while looking into deep abysses. I can’t wait to enter the cabin of Miika Nousiainen’s voice again, to start laughing and at the same time having this awkward and thrilling feeling of facing existential questions.“
– Patrick Sielemann,  Editor,  KEIN & ABER, Germany

What connects a 70-year old widow, a guy from a motorbike club, a single-father, and a personal carer? They are all looking for an easy solution for their problems.

Rights sold: Germany, Kein & Aber

 


Rage by Eeva Rohas

EU Literature Prize nominee 2019!

Rage (Raivo, Otava 2018) is a gripping story of divorce, alcoholism, and attempts to recover. It’s also a novel about motherhood, commitment, relationships, and how people and literature are both just as tricky to translate.

The Bulgarian rights were sold to Perseus.


Strangers Inside by Johanna Sinisalo

Winner of a national Finnish horror novel competition 2019!

Strangers Inside (Vieraat, Karisto 2020) is modern horror story by ”The Queen of Finnish Weird”. Based on the latest science with a sci-fi twist!

Strangers Inside is a classic horror updated! The tension grows beautifully and the horror seeps into the story nice and slow. It is a fresh and brilliant story that is both current and timeless.”
– National Horror Competition Jury

Reading materials available in September!


The Blackbird by Inka Nousiainen
(Mustarastas, WSOY September 2019)

In August 1989 a young man goes on a cruise boat with his friends, and disappears. The tragedy changes the lives of his family. What happened on that night on M/S Fennia?

 


Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
(Kuunpäivän kirjeet, Teos, 2020)

Dystopian space opera meets sci-fi thriller somewhere between the Earth, Mars and the Moon!

By the author of international bestseller “Memory of Water”.

 


Red Storm by Elina Hirvonen

Red Storm (Punainen myrsky, Wsoy September 2019) is a touching family sagaA small boy grows up in Iraq where fear is always present. He grows up with a family secret, and with a dream of peace.

Red Storm describes with excellence the boundaries of a child’s consciousness, the blending of imagination and dreams with reality, and how memories are shaped by the child’s comprehension.”
– Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, Finland 


Crime highlights:


The Oathbreaker
 by Leena Lehtolainen

(Valapatto, Tammi 2019)

A man is abducted at Helsinki airport and left to die in the winter. He survives and an international journey for answers begins!

 

The Faithful Reader by Max Seeck
(Uskollinen lukija, Tammi 2019)

Full English translation available soon!

A book-inspired serial killer is on the loose. Jessica Niemi – a detective with a mysterious past – steps up. A chase for the faithful reader has begun!

Rights sold: Czech Republic, Grada

 


Remember this:

Full English manuscript available!

On Sex and Mathematics by Iida Rauma
Frighteningly intelligent and visceral novel about people in crisis, environmental disasters, about a confusing and erratic life, and the beauty and logic of mathematics, while also exploring the agonies and ecstasies of sex.

Awards:
Finnish Literature Export Prize winner 2016
Helmet Literature Prize winner 2015
Kalevi Jäntti Prize winner 2015
EU Literature Prize nominee 2016
Toisinkoinen Prize nominee 2015


Film News: The Memory of Water receives production support

We are thrilled to share exciting film news for Memory of Water, based on the novel by Emmi Itäranta!

Production company Bufo received production support for their dystopian drama Memory of Water, based on a novel by Emmi Itäranta. Saara Saarela will direct, with Misha Jaari and Mark Lwoff as producers. The film has already participated in Frontières Fantasia and Ties That Bind.

Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja, Teos 2012) tells the story of seventeen-year-old Noria, set to become the next tea master in her village. The story is set in a drought-ravaged, war-ridden future world where fresh water has become the privilege of a few and tea masters have been the keepers of natural springs for centuries. Rights are sold in 23 territories and counting!

Read more from here: Finnish Film Foundation production support.

Rights sold:

FINLAND, Teos (Orig. publisher)
ARABIC, Dar Al Muna
BRAZIL, Record
BULGARIA, Perseus
CHINA, Sichuan People’s Publishing House
CZECH REPUBLIC, Albatros Media/Plus
DENMARK, Turbine
ESTONIA, Koolibri
FRANCE, Place des Editeurs
GEORGIA, Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY, DTV/Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY, Metropolis Media
ITALY, Piemme
JAPAN, Nishimura Shoten
KOREA, The Book in My Life
LATVIA, Janis Roze
LITHUANIA, Nieko Rimto
NORWAY, Gresvik Forlag
RUSSIA, Text Publishers
SPAIN, Ediciones B.
SWEDEN, Modernista
TURKEY, Dogan Egmont
WORLD ENGLISH, HarperCollins

FILM RIGHTS, Bufo

About author


Emmi Itäranta

Emmi Itäranta (b.1976) holds two MA degrees, one in Drama and another in Creative Writing. Her award-winning debut novel Memory of Water (Teemestarin kirja) was published in Finland in 2012 to great accolades, followed by The Weaver (Kudottujen kujien kaupunki) in 2015. Her latest novel The Moonday Letters was published in September 2020.

Itäranta’s writing has been compared to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. Her honours include the Young Aleksis Kivi Prize 2013, the Kalevi Jäntti Literary Prize 2012 and first place in the Teos Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Contest 2011.

Memory of Water has sold to over 25 languages to date, and it has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award recognizing the best science fiction novel published in the UK in 2014, and the Golden Tentacle award. In addition, Itäranta has been included on the Honor List of the Otherwise Award (formerly James Tiptree, Jr. Award). 

Itäranta’s cv is an eclectic mix of writing-related activities, including stints as a columnist, theatre critic, press officer and dramaturge. Her poems, short stories, articles and essays have appeared in anthologies, film magazines and science fiction magazines in the UK and Finland. She now lives in Finland after 14 years in the United Kingdom.

Bibliography


2020, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Moonday Letters

Emmi Itäranta


2015, Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Weaver

Emmi Itäranta


2012, Fantasy & Science Fiction

Memory of Water

Emmi Itäranta

Pre-Frankfurt deals and new reviews for our fiction highlights

Frankfurt is around the corner and we’re gearing up for the biggest and the most beautiful book fair of the year. In Frankfurt, we’re happy to showcase the best of Finnish fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. We’ve got a lot of new, exciting titles from our talented authors.

We’re glad to share the news regarding Max Seeck’s gripping thriller The Mephisto Touch. This action-packed standalone sequel to Seeck’s acclaimed debut The Angels of Hammurabi, the winner of the Best Crime Debut prize of 2016, was sold to Seeck’s Icelandic publisher Forlagid.

The Mephisto Touch by Max Seeck is a gripping page-turner right from the start. I was drawn to the action-packed narrative and I think Max has done very well in creating sympathetic characters. This is definitely something for readers of Nordic Noir, but still way more Nordic Cool than Noir.”
– Stella Soffía Jóhannesdóttir, editor, Forlagid, Iceland

Seeck will be visiting Reykjavik in late November for the Iceland Noir festival, but already before that, his German readers can meet him in Berlin at the Nordic Crime Night.

Here’s a round-up of the most recent reviews for our newly-published titles of fiction:

The Call of Hades by Max Seeck
“The evil grows so sneakily – I have never read a Finnish thriller with this kind of suspense! Annika Lehto and Daniel Kuisma are here to stay!” – Kotivinkki magazine
“The best there is in the Finnish thriller field right now.” – Suomen kuvalehti magazine

The City Wall by Mikko-Pekka Heikkinen
“The novel is a wickedly humoristic, but also a serious and topical play of different discourses. The City Wall shows how easily people can be divided under any circumstances, in any country.” – Savon Sanomat newspaper

The Red Marsh by Marko Hautala
“Hautala gets better and better each time, and his latest, The Red Marsh, is brilliant! I got scared after the first sentences.” – Etelä-Saimaa newspaper

Renate’s Story by Johanna Sinisalo
”Sinisalo’s novel is an intelligent, critical study of the society. The many layers of the story are revealed to the reader deliciously slowly.” – Aamulehti newspaper

Get in touch with us to request reading materials by clicking here!

See you in Frankfurt – tables 17L and 18L in LitAg!

About author


Johanna Sinisalo

Johanna Sinisalo (b. 1958) is a Finlandia-Prize winning superstar of Finnish speculative fiction. In addition to her nine novels, she has also written short fiction and film and television screenplays. Her works have been translated into twenty languages.

Sinisalo has won several literary prizes also abroad, such as the 2004 James Tiptree, Jr. Award and the 2017 Prometheus Award, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2008, the Prix Escapades in 2012, and the Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017.

In 2022, Johanna Sinisalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal for services to Finnish literature! Founded in 1943, the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland is a distinction awarded by the President of Finland to artists and writers in recognition of their long meritorious work and exceptional services to Finnish art, drama, literature and music.