We are delighted to represent new authors at the Ahlback Agency in fall 2025 and we are so excited to share with you all of our new authors and their titles!
Welcome to the Ahlback Agency
FICTION: Nina Honkanen, Mari Renko, and Tatiana Elf
CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT: Antti Haikala & Teemu Auersalo, Maria Vilja
and our new illustrators Emma Rautala, Jonna Jylhä, and Reetta Niemensivu
NON-FICTION: Alexander Puutio
CLICK HERE to check out the full Fall 2025 catalogue!
FICTION
Author-screenwriter Nina Honkanen was born in Pori in 1968, spent her childhood in Rauma, and has lived since 1983 in Brighton, Paris, Munich, and Helsinki. Honkanen, who has brought into the world, among other things, five novels, non-fiction/biographies, radio plays, documentaries, TV series/film scripts, plays, columns, and four sons, has been writing professionally for 30 years, most recently the novel Rakkaani, Vladimir (Into). She has also worked for years at Yleisradio as a radio and TV journalist as well as a documentarian. The TV series L/Over, based on the novel Rock Bottom, was nominated in the main competition at Canneserie 2025 and has been sold to, among others, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, and France. The Finnish premiere (MTV3) will be in winter 2026.
Photo credit: Laura Malmivaara
Rock Bottom
A woman, a summer cottage in the winter, and a body of a man
✓ A relationship hell and a survival kit with a touch of black humour
✓ For readers of Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies, and for fans of Émile Zola
✓ The TV-series L/OVER inspired by Rock Bottom with international distribution in 2026 and with world premiere at Canneserie 2025 in main competition!
Mari Renko (b.1994) is an eastern Finnish writer from Kuopio. She wrote her debut novel Pearl Ring, Enclosed after getting bored with the one-sided love interests of romance books. Her aim is to show that the world is full of different love stories, each one worth telling, even if they do not end in marriage and children, or even if they are about something other than romantic love. Mari has studied medicine and writing. She loves stories that offer an escape from everyday life, such as romance and fantasy. She is also active on the book scene, where she talks about her writing and shares writing tips.
On Instagram and TikTok, Mari can be found under the username @renkomari.
Photo credit: Anna-Katri Hänninen Bazar kustannus
A captivating two-timeline novel contrasting the fast-paced life of a modern social media influencer from New York with the quiet, traditional rhythms of a small town in North Karelia, Finland, woven together by a mysterious pearl ring connected to the Titanic
✓ First book in the Yellow House Chronicles romantic feelgood series with a Finnish cultural setting
✓ Bestseller – Pearl Ring, Enclosed has sold over 13,000 copies in Finland!
✓ For the readers of Beth O’Leary, Mhairi McFarlane, Lucinda Riley, Jojo Moyes…
✓ Readers have praised the characters and their relationships as heart-warming
Tatiana Elf is a versatile author and script writer living in Helsinki. She has been the head writer and creator of various popular and critically acclaimed Finnish crime drama series (Roba, Fast), winning the award for best drama for Keisari Aarnio in 2018. She has also created, written and directed several reality and entertainment series (Love Connection, Dancing with the Stars, Supertähdet). She started her career by writing for the most popular daily TV drama (Secret Lives) in Finland.
Photo credit: Anna Cappelli
This twisted psychological thriller follows Rebekka, a young and attractive sociopath, who can charm anyone… and destroy them just as easily
✓ For the fans of Gillian Flynn, Emilie Schepp, Luke Jennings (Killing Eve), Jeff Lindsay (Dexter)
✓ Impostor is the first book in the Rebekka Nummi -series
CHILDREN’S & YA
Antti Haikala co-founded his animation studio Anima Vitae year 2000 in Helsinki and since then has been working as producer, writer and director in top European animation productions. His mission is to create meaningful stories and experiences for kids, youth and families. The best known works that Antti is credited for are animated Niko feature films (2008-2024) and Moominvalley animated series (2017-2023). In 2017 Antti started to work with the story of Fleak which will premiere around the world by the end of the year 2025. In his free time Antti enjoys being in nature with friends or in complete solitude.
Teemu Auersalo is a screenwriter and animator. He lives in Ireland with his wife, two sons and three cats. As a child Teemu loved cartoons, nature documentaries, Star Wars, computer games, drawing, cycling, writing stories and making music. He still loves all the same things. He gets excited about new story ideas, monsters and funny creatures, and likes to use fantasy and humour to tell important stories about humans. The adaptation of his screenplay for the film “Fleak” is his first book. He is now working on his second book.
Photo credit: Janne Mäkinen
Based on the upcoming Finnish animated film, Fleak is a heartwarming and wildly imaginative journey for the whole family!
✓ In the spirit of Pixar films – a magical tale that is funny and moving
✓ An adventure about resilience, family and the courage to face your fears
✓ Perfect for readers +9
✓ Film rights sold to 50 countries, including the USA, France, Spain, the Nordics, and Poland
Maria Vilja is an illustrator and children’s author with background in art education and social work. She creates unique and books with strong atmosphere and beauty. Her books are made for children and adult-readers, for shared moments – to be discussed about. Themes of her books vary from emotions and society to everyday moments with warm humor.
Her picture book, The Only Beautiful Day of the Summer, was nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize and is nominated for the 2025 Nordic Council literature award.
Photo credit: Otto Virtanen
A life-affirming picture book about a summer day out including both laughter and tears, love and arguing, sunshine and thunder clouds
✓ Nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Children & YA literature and the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize 2025!
✓ Universally relatable theme that is tackled with powerful emotional honesty
Emma Rautala is an illustrator and animator from Kaarina, whose pen brings to life wonderfully expressive characters. Emma is a graduate of the animation program at the Turku Arts Academy and works with charming characters, intriguing stories, and films.
A fun and wild monster series for children learning to read!
✓ Easy-to-read series for early readers – clear language and engaging pacing offers a fresh twist on monster stories
✓ The books explore the special bond between stepsisters, reflecting the joys and challenges of modern extended families with themes of empathy, bravery and friendship
✓ Monster Care series is set in the same Monster-Finland world as the middle-grade Monster Manor series! Children can start reading with Monster Care and grow into Monster Manor for more adventures in a familiar world
Jonna Jylhä (b. 1984) mostly keeps images tucked away in her drawer, but a few writings peek out as well. She is an avid user of the Museum Card, an image-maker, and an art educator. Jylhä holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Art and Design Helsinki and has also studied educational sciences at the University of Oulu. She is inspired by the patina of time and the interplay of colors and shapes, lives in Vantaa, though in her daydreams, she imagines herself living on an island.
“Brings to mind, among other things, Alice in Wonderland…”
– Svenska Yle
✓ 2024 Arvid Lydecken Prize nominee
✓ Fun-filled adventure suited for readers of many ages
✓ The quirky characters of slightly wild humans and animals bring a touch of anarchy – without chaos!
Pastel dreamy circus magic! Step into the enchanting Kaplamak – a city where anything can happen! A place that you never want to leave.
Reetta Niemensivu is an illustrator, comic artist and a graphic designer who lives and works in Lahti, Finland. Reetta hasillustrated a great number of children’s books for various publishers in Finland. She is also the author of four comic albums published by Suuri Kurpitsa and she has self-published several small press publications.
She was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize for the children’s book Penelope and the Perilous Porridge in 2022. She has won the Comic Finlandia Award in 2019 for the album Sisaret 1918.
Photo credit: Henry Söderlund
From the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of Agnes and Monster Nanny comes a gently humorous children’s novel about Margo and her new family dynamics
✓ Addresses the topic of two homes and separation from a child’s perspective in a realistic, comforting, and age-appropriate way
✓ For the fans of Jacqueline Wilson
NON-FICTION
Teemu Alexander Puutio, PhD, is a Harvard lecturer, perennial student with his third PhD in the making and a writer whose work spans leadership, curiosity, and purposeful reinvention in the age of disruption.
With a background that bridges law, economics, and behavioral science, Alexander has held senior roles at the United Nations, and in Boston Consulting Group before he took on teaching and research full time. He currently teaches at Harvard, where his work focuses on leadership in uncertain environments and decision-making in the face of rapid change. As a part of his research on success and life satisfaction, he has interviewed over 600 global CEOs and executives. He is a writer at Forbes, and his articles have appeared in Psychology Today, Fast Company, and TechCrunch with more than 1.5 million readers reached in 2024. His public speaking and teaching portfolio spans media, institutions and private companies from Adobe to the Rockefeller Foundation, and he is a sought-after voice on the future of work, the limitations of grit, and the underleveraged power of curiosity. His work fuses sharp insight with warm provocation, making him a trusted guide for high-achievers looking to reinvent. Originally from Finland, Alexander now lives in New York with his wife and three sons. He drinks too much decaf diet coke, writes to learn, and is proudly building a career that looks nothing like a straight line.
Photo credit: Julia Neganova
What if the very playbook we’ve been handed for success – grit, passion, specialization – isn’t just incomplete, but entirely counterproductive to a fulfilling life?
✓ A no-bullshit blueprint for a more meaningful life—by Finland’s most curious export that has taught leaders at Harvard, Columbia and NYU Stern
✓ In 2024, dr. Puutio reached 1,5 million readers with his columns on Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today, and speaking invitations from Adobe to Thomson Reuters,
✓ Bold Nordic take on reinvention and permission: you don’t need approval to change paths – you just need curiosity
Loukko by 
