by Juha Hurme

One day during Advent in Helsinki the narrator in the novel Hullu (‘The lunatic’, Teos, 2012), a middle-aged man, goes mad.

Read Soila Lehtonen’s introduction and a sample chapter at Books from Finland.

By Nina Pirhonen

Coming soon as a smart device app!

The cover pretty much says it all. Or take a look at the author’s website. Pompom is a delightfully whimsical picture book series with a fascinating aesthetic connection to the author/illustrator’s fashion design sensibilities (Google her work for Nanso and Marimekko).

There are four books in the Pompom series. Contact the Otava Group Agency for rights information.

by Kaarle Aho

Writing a documentary about controversial banker Toivo T. Ryynänen is a second chance for washed-up journalist Jyrki Nyrkki, who is trying to collect what shreds are left of his professional pride and win back the love of his wife.

A journey into the past of old money and the Baby Boom generation ensues, taking Jyrki back to his own childhood and the excesses of the 1980s. Everything seems to repeat over and over: whoever believes the most is the one who gets cheated.

When Ryynänen’s friend and business associate Paul Vihanti returns to Finland with a briefcase full of secrets, it will have an irreversible effect on the Finnish business world and Jyrki’s personal life.

In the end, who is pulling the marionette strings behind the scenes—who knows more than he is telling?

Kaarle Aho (b.1968, Helsinki) is a movie producer. He has a degree in history from Helsinki University. Day of the False King is his first novel.

Sample translation available from the Otava Group Agency.

by Sari Peltoniemi

A supernatural YA thriller in which a young boy is haunted for a forest spirit he encounters in Lapland. Do these apparitions have something to do with his long-lost Sami mother?

Sample translation available from the Elina Ahlback Agency.

Jason

by Camilla Mickwitz

A full translation is available for review from the Ahlback agency, translated by me.

While I didn’t grow up with Finnish children’s books myself, Jason seemed familiar the first time I read it this year. To me it has the feel of a Leo Lionni or Shel Silverstein–the sort of timeless simplicity that in this case completely transcends borders between nations and cultures. Mickwitz has a particular gift for injecting seemingly straightforward stories with glimpses of the serious struggles of adult life as seen through the lens of childhood.

From the Elina Ahlback Literary Agency:

Everyday life can be an adventure!

Children have loved Jason since 1975, when the first Jason book was published. The books recount the joys and troubles of Jason and his mother’s everyday life in an insightful and entertaining way. Karen, Jason’s mother, is always busy. She can’t be late for work and must first take Jason to daycare…

Camilla Mickwitz (1937–1989) won the Finnish Award for Illustrated Books in 1982 for her Emily series. The books are based on series of animated films that received the Finnish State Film Award in 1979.

By Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen

Now available for purchase in Finland! Akateeminen Suomalainen

Get ready for another rollicking ride with the boys from Oddsville, this time through the 2012 World Design Capital!

See also:

Tatu and Patu’s This is Finland (Published)

Tatu and Patu’s Adventures in Outer Space (Sample)

Tatu and Patu as Superheroes! (Sample)

Tatu and Patu’s Oddball Bedtime Book (Sample)

Tatu and Patu’s Amazing Alphabet (Sample)

Ihmisen osa

Runeberg Prize for fiction, 2010.
Prix Courrier International, 2011.

Now available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk! Release date 2 Aug 2012 from Maclehose Press.

From the publisher:

An elderly woman agrees to sell her life to a blocked writer she meets at a book fair. She needs to talk – her husband has not spoken since a family tragedy some months ago.

She claims that her grown-up children are doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland’s economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he’s on to something.

The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.

From the WSOY foreign rights guide:

A writer buys a life from Salme Malmikunnas, an 80-year-old former yarn seller. You can get a lot for 7000 euros. Salme opens up and tells him everything the way she wants to remember it – the silence of her husband, Paavo, the accident that befell her daughter Helena, Maija’s marriage, and Pekka’s success in business. But will the author tell the story like they’d agreed? Can he resist the urge to write about subjects that are off limits? And is Salme telling the truth?

True to its title, the novel asks what the human part of life is. Its rich cast of characters answers this question in many voices. The novel takes the pulse of the present and builds on the past to portray a world where buying and selling are the order of the day. It sheds light on eternal truths about working life, both then and now. More than anything else, it’s talk that makes business run today. Instead of things like yarn, we now sell images. And when the words run out, it’s time for action.

Hotakainen is a prolific writer, but he has never produced anything quite like this. The Human Part is a rich, wide-ranging novel full of honest wisdom. It’s disarmingly moving and deeply humorous. The novel fearlessly grapples with today’s world and tries to understand it. That’s not possible without laughter. Or tears.

“Hotakainen is a skilled storyteller whose works are full of understated surprises. His humour is intelligent, transporting the reader from laughter to tears. Hotakainen’s books are not meant to be mindlessly devoured – but demand to be read in one sitting.”
Savon Sanomat, 2009

“Aesthetically, The Human Part is one of Hotakainen’s most complete works. Chapter by chapter, he builds his ideas about society like a jigsaw puzzle. Grotesque effects occasionally echo the author’s keen interpretations of the waning of hope and quality of life among modern Finns.”
Satakunnan Kansa, 2009

“Hotakainen delights in language and makes your shoulders shake with laughter.”
Aamulehti, 2009

“Definitely one of the author’s best books.”
Helsingin Sanomat, 2009

Illustration: Joonas Väänänen

Pop over to Books from Finland for my translation of Jyrki Lehtola’s latest column on the media. Then think for a few minutes about whether Facebook Timeline is an interesting new feature or a hellish reminder that you can never truly escape your digital past..

In the new media it’s easy for our pet-hatreds to be introduced to anyone who is interested. And of course everyone is interested, how else could it be? Jyrki Lehtola investigates…

Read the essay

Alpo Finds Alma by Jukka Lemmetty

2011, Tapisodes and Tammi

by Jukka Lemmetty

From the developer:

In this second book in the Alpo series, Alpo sets off on a new adventure with his friend Jimmy.

When Alpo hurts his leg, Jimmy puts him in ambulance-pram and drives him to the zoo, where animals can be well looked after. But all the animals at the zoo are too busy to help Alpo. Until Alpo and Jimmy meet a wonderful lady at the ice-cream stall…

The first of the Alpo series to be available on iPhone and iPad. Choose to listen along to charming narration by Sean Connolly, or read by yourself. Tap around the page to see secret animations, bringing Jukka Lemmetty’s illustrations to life!

Available in the Android Marketplace and iTunes Appstore!

Famingo review (4 out of 5 stars): “This super cute children’s book app is the first English translation of a popular Finnish book series. The story is fun, the drawings are cute and there is there is a lot of interactive content if you explore.”

Annexus, Forthcoming

Environmentally-friendly poems & facts for children and adults

Strange things are happening in the animals’ world!

In this second volume of The Animals’ World, curious things occur: frogs rain from the sky, a blackbird is sporting Ray Bans, a hippo runs out of potamus, chickens take to the streets for a freedom march, a dragon mother urges a dragon father to give up smoking, an elephant does a good turn for the environment, and much more!

While the poems are about animals, they offer surprising points of contact with human life. Colorful illustrations and amusing speech bubbles add spice to each hilarious page.

In the DID YOU KNOW? fact sections, an astute mole reports interesting, sometimes surprising things about the animals in the poems and the environment we share.

The first volume of the Animals’ World and its accompanying exhibition were nominated for the 2009 City of Helsinki Environmental Award. A dynamic exhibition based on this second volume is also on tour.

Come along for another wild adventure in the Animals’ World!

Also from Annexus Publishing:

Mother // Äiti

Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen (Image linked from HS.fi)

As reported today in the Helsingin Sanomat, YA author and poet Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen has been awarded this year’s Finlandia Junior prize for children’s and young adult literature for her novel Light, Light, Light [Valoa valoa valoa]. You can read more about the novel at the Stilton Agency website or my post on my English sample translation.

More on the author at Books from Finland and the Finnish Literature Exchange FILI.

Translation of Helsingin Sanomat report:

This year’s Finlandia Junior prize for literature has been awarded to Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen (b. 1977) for her young adult novel Light, Light, Light.

Awarded by the Finnish Book Publisher’s Association for outstanding children’s and young adult literature, this year’s prize was decided upon by musician Paula Vesala. The size of the award is 30,000 euros.

“Huotarinen doesn’t underestimate her reader, instead delivering a broadside,” Vesala said in her award speech.

“The narrative approach, which boarders on poetry, increases the power of the discussion of suicide. The text includes space for one’s own ideas and interpretations, but at the same time, as if to help and protect the young reader, the rapid distancing feels like an absolutely ingenious solution given the topic and probable age of the readership.”

Huotarinen is a lyricist and young adult writer from Tampere. Prior to this winning novel she has published three collections of poetry as well as the Silja trilogy, also for young adults.

She is a previous winner of both the Union of Finnish Writers and Kalevi Jäntti prizes.

Author Tuomas Lius

2011 Like

by Tuomas Lius

From the Otava Rights Guide:

A lovable rural rogue and a female detective who’s coming to terms with her past are searching for a
priceless historical treasure

Private investigator Marko Pippurinen from the rural village of Tohmajärvi has revived his detective agency with the help of his young friend, Pyry Lehikoinen. Then Julia Noussair, the other half of the duo familiar from Lius’ previous books, Haka and Outside the Law, appears out of nowhere with an intriguing offer. Marko eagerly seizes this opportunity, but by doing so he sets off a game that forces him
to put more at stake than ever before. Everything culminates in a high-speed treasure hunt through the Nordic wilderness.

An English sample is available.

The Buyout, by Karo Hämäläinen

The Buyout, by Karo Hämäläinen

WSOY, 2011

After reading this book, I felt like immediately changing my investment strategy (perhaps switching to cash in a mattress?), and my ability to stomach the nonsensical explanations of self-serving politicians about why the world is suffering from this financial crisis dropped through the floor. Karo Hämäläinen reminds us what really got us here: the greed and machinations of financial wizards who did their best to hide the risks and consequences of their actions in order to keep making money. The Buyout is that rarest of things in the thriller genre: a dose of reality. Murder mysteries are fundamentally at a remove from almost everyone’s normal lives, but The Buyout is about all of our lives. Anyone who has ever seen the value of their stock portfolio jump like a kid on a trampoline will read this new financial thriller with white knuckles.

From the Elina Ahlbäck Agency:

The Buyout

Original title: Erottaja | Published: 2011 | Publisher: WSOY
Class: Fiction | Pages: 462 | Format: 220 x 155 mm | Binding: Hardcover

In the world of big money, there are two emotional states. The markets are dominated either by fear or greed.

Karo Hämäläinen

The international financial crisis is mangling capital markets, fortunes are being crushed in seconds and others are being made just as quickly. A Finnish asset management company founded by three friends descends into the eye of the storm, setting off a fierce competition: who will buy the company for themselves – and with whom?

The Buyout is a financial thriller. Instead of the world politics and violence characteristic of action thrillers, the suspense arises from the intrigues of people working in the capital markets. Karo Hämäläinen has combined the excitement of an action thriller with page-turning narration in a social novel. The result is a hybrid – a novel of unusually depth and narrative control that is also highly readable and entertaining.

As an investment expert, Hämäläinen has his facts straight and reveals a whole range of pitfalls present in the world of high finance over the course of the novel. The repurchase of the Finnish asset management company that functions as the framework for the action of the novel is based on actual events, the downfall of the Icelandic Glitnir Bank. Hämäläinen spent the blackest day of the financial crisis of 2008 in the offices of Glitnir, observing the actions and emotions of the toughest Finnish capital market professionals. He has also interviewed the most important Finnish bankers who were involved in the sale of Glitnir, receiving valuable behind-the-scenes information.

English sample available

Reviews:

“The managing editor of Arvopaperi, author Karo Hämäläinen, has written a book that verges on patricide.” – Henrik Muukkonen, Talouselämä (Finland’s leading business weekly)

“If you’re interested in the movements of big money and the fates of the people who operate on the dark side of the investment funds, you could hardly spend an evening better. – Hämäläinen’s latest is a chillingly realistic financial thriller. The story reads like reality, which the author can take as a compliment. – The Buyout could be considered one of the landmarks of the continuing economic crisis.” – Matti Posio, Aamulehti (Finland’s second largest daily newspaper)

“This hefty work keeps a hold on you until the very end. Instead of high-speed chases and firefights, the suspense of this thriller is created by investment risk, white-collar crime, corporate takeover negotiations, and power games. – What makes this carefully constructed, believable novel extraordinary is the analysis that parallels the plot. – The novel’s account of what happens behind the scenes in the banking and financial sectors will speak to every bank account holder.” – Joni Pyysalo, Suomen Kuvalehti (Finland’s leading current events weekly)

“The atmosphere is like on the savannah, where scavengers lie in wait for their prey and each other – This is the hidden appeal of Hämäläinen’s book. Negative humanity arouses the reader’s interest. The reader wants to know what will happen to these people. This is a book you have to read to the end. If you have to read a thriller to the end, then its author has succeeded in his work. Hämäläinen has.” – Juhana Rossi, Helsingin Sanomat (Finland’s largest daily newspaper)

Illustration: Joonas Väänänen

Are we dumbed down by the Internet? Jyrki Lehtola takes a look at who might be to blame and reminds us that everything really was better in the past.

Read the latest essay from journalist Jyrki Lehtola at Books from Finland.

The Long History of Electricity by Ismo Lindell

Ismo Lindell’s The Long History of Electricity examines how humanity’s knowledge of electricity and magnetism has evolved over three millennia.

The story of electricity and magnetism is examined as part of broader cultural history: How knowledge of them has increased in stages through a dialectic between theory and experimentation, and how they have been applied in different branches of technology and industry. The book uses interesting examples to explain how electricity replaced earlier modes of lighting, uses of power and methods for transferring information.

The Long History of Electricity offers fascinating, thought-provoking reading for anyone interested in the history of science and technology. Professor emeritus Ismo Lindell received the 2010 Finnish Information Publishing Prize for The Long History of Electricity.

The Long History of Electricity (Sample-PDF)

Man and the Environment by Jari Niemelä et al.

We live in a century faced with great challenges. The growing population of the world needs to be fed and poverty needs to be reduced. The concept of humanity’s relationship to the environment has become broader and more complex. We have begun to understand how sensitive and intricate a system this really is. There are approximately ten million species of organisms on the Earth, and only a small portion of them is known. The spectrum of habitats is astonishing.

This immense variety offers humanity essential raw materials, services and spiritual nourishment. The relationship between man and the environment, however, is threatening to become a question of survival for the human race. As the number of people on Earth who must be fed grows, we also wish to preserve the natural wealth and abundance of the world’s oceans, forests and other environments.

Man and the Environment is a broad survey of the interactions between humanity and the environment. Its subject areas vary from the extinction of species to climate change and from consumer culture to forest conservation. It also describes the different opportunities we have for making a difference: the decisions we make at home, at work and at the ballot box are essential. A structured overall picture of a complex world improves the quality of decision making and democracy. It also makes near future threats easier to comprehend.

Man and the Environment offers fresh perspectives from top experts on environmental topics and the responsibilities communities must shoulder.  The information presented enhances readers’ understanding about the causes of, impacts from and solutions to environmental problems, as well as offering answers to today’s burning environmental questions.

Man and the Environment (Sample–PDF)

The Future of the Baltic Sea by Saara Bäck et al.

Why is the Baltic Sea deteriorating? What is the value of the Baltic Sea? Why are international protection efforts for the Baltic Sea stumbling? What are the solutions for saving the Baltic Sea? These are the key questions of The Future of the Baltic Sea. Environmental protection is a challenging task: the problems surrounding the Baltic Sea are well known and its poor state is generally acknowledged, but there is still a lack of multidisciplinary scientific dialogue about means for protecting it. The Future of the Baltic Sea delves into these issues, presenting the views, opinions and values of researchers from various branches of science related to the Baltic Sea and what can be done to improve its state. It adds new perspectives and arguments to the discussion about how to improve the future outlook for the entire Baltic Sea area.

“The Baltic Sea is like a living creature with many legs that extends from the Scandinavian Mountains to the fells of Lapland, from Lentiira Village in North-Eastern Finland to the Czech Republic, from Belarus to Lake Onega. It has cleaned itself through evaporation or by leading its waters to the Atlantic Ocean to evaporate, from where they return to us as rain, clean from impurities that we have dumped into our water systems. Now its strength is clearly starting to falter.” – Antti Tuuri, bestselling author

The Future of the Baltic Sea (Sample–PDF)

Cuisine of the Islamic World by Helena Hallenberg & Irmeli Perho

Cuisine of the Islamic World provides a captivating look into one of humanity’s richest food cultures. The book describes how a cuisine that was initially quite simple developed into a sophisticated epicurism and how different foods and stimulants were used around Bedouin camp fires and at the tables of medieval rulers and are still used in modern meals, not to mention celebrations.

Cuisine of the Islamic World also explores the rainbow of food culture among Muslims in Finland, such as Tatars, Kurds and Somalis. Individual raw ingredients and whole dishes have spread across the globe through the Islamic nations: the best known stimulant, coffee, was first consumed by Sufi mystics. Included is a collection of recipes from nations as far-flung as Morocco and China that will entice the taste buds.

This book will be enjoyed by everyone who wants to understand the many different meanings and intercultural connections of Islamic cuisine–from lovers of gourmet delights to food industry professionals.

Cuisine of the Islamic World was awarded the Finnish Science Book of the Year award in 2010.   Quoting from the judging panel’s decision: “The book is an outstanding introduction to modern global history and develops both respect and curiosity in the reader towards Islamic culture and world views. And to top everything off, the end of the book includes a sizable collection of Islamic recipes, which will tempt readers to move from words to actions – i.e. to both cooking and cultural tourism.

Cuisine of the Islamic World (Sample–PDF)

Messages from the Islands by Ilkka Hanski

Messages from the Islands is a riveting account of the diversity of nature and how new species are born and why old ones disappear. Internationally renowned ecologist Ilkka Hanski ponders environmental changes from an illustrative, general knowledge perspective so the book is also suitable for readers who are not familiar with ecology. The book takes the reader to six islands, from the tiny Haminanluoto Island in the eastern Gulf of Finland to Greenland, the world’s largest island. The text is embellished by reminiscences of the young researcher’s thoughts and excitement. Why have large species been successful in nature in Finland? How did the Granville Fritillary butterfly from Åland become the model species for population ecology research? Why did researchers become interested in dung beetles from the rain forests of Borneo and Madagascar? What do fluctuations in lemming populations say about the stability of Greenland’s biological communities?

Messages from the Islands uses these examples to shed light on even bigger questions: Why do species change. What is the significance of habitat change, global warming and new species? The book helps the reader to understand why nature’s diversity is worth protecting.

Professor Ilkka Hanski leads a top unit in meta-population biology at the University of Helsinki. He is one of the most scientifically accomplished ecologists in the world and is one of Finland’s best known researchers. He previously authored a book entitled The Shrinking World: the Ecological Consequences of Habitat Loss (Excellence in Ecology 14, International Ecology Institute 2005). The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Hanski the 2011 Crafoord Prize, also known as the “mini Nobel.”

Messages from the Islands (Sample–PDF)

The Heretic Essays, by Kari Hukkila

The Heretic Essays, by Kari Hukkila

Savukeidas, 2010

From the Burning Bridge Agency 2011 rights guide:

The starting point of Kari Hukkila’s The Heretic Essays is the turn of the eighties when Hukkila gets to know a group of Algerian youngsters hanging around in front of Notre Dame. The essays deal with a friendship which does not depend on similarity, and a Europe which defines the positions and attitudes between the West and Islam as a confrontation. Through modern Yemen and Algeria, Hukkila journeys to the Spain of the
Middle Ages. He returns to modern Paris and his friend Hafed and reflects on Dostoyevsky’s Grand Inquisitor, Carl Schmitt, Romany beggars, the Picaresque novel, Spinoza’s converso background and ends up on Omaha Beach. Together, the subjects form a rich and splendid whole which shows that heretics have always been needed. By its wide-ranging scholarship and open thinking The Heretic Essays bring new aspects of thought to the debate around xenophobia, foreignness and the confrontation between cultures. Hukkila’s writing style is gently ironic and thoughtful, tender when speaking of friends but uncompromising and direct when faced with stupidity and cruelty.

“Kari Hukkila’s first literary work, the collection called The Heretic Essays is an extremely interesting and singularly irritating book. I have argued many days against Hukkila, on Hukkila’s behalf and with a vague understanding for Hukkila. The Heretic Essays consists of some ten essays. Their theme is one and the same and it couldn’t be of more current importance: immigration, what happens to people on the journey from one culture to another. Unlike most other participants in the current debate Hukkila also knows something of the subject. (…) The Heretic Essays brings quality, depth and nuances to the immigration debate.”

-Matti Mäkelä, Helsingin Sanomat

English version of the essay “My Algerian Friend” available

The Ahtisaari Story by Katri Merikallio and Tapani Ruokanen

Otava, 2011

From Otava Foreign Rights:

The first authorised biography of the influential Finnish Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Light, light, light by Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen

Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen

2011, Karisto

As a translator, I generally think of “lyrical” as a dirty word. Even beyond the pretense that’s usually bound up in using language like that about a book (your own book?), translating poetry is generally a fool’s errand, unless you fully embrace what the *huge* limitations are. Every once in a while, though, a translation of something lyrical just works. This is a good story, and a beautiful thing to read. It feels true to life.

From the Stilton Agency:

What else can one write about other than death or love? The narrator in the book is a 14-year old Mariia Ovaskainen, who hates writing. Nevertheless, she must tell us a story from 1986, when two things exploded: Chernobyl nuclear power station and Mariia’s own consciousness.

Mariia’s new class mate, Mimi, moves into a white house on top of the hill. Mimi is an odd girl, whose mother has committed suicide, and who is not interested in school. The story starts when Mimi meets Mariia on the beach and asks: “Could you pretend to be my friend, please?” Mariia promises to help her new mate to prepare for a retake of a Swedish exam to improve her grades. During the summer, the girls’ friendship deepens and turns into a love affair. But however deep the love, it cannot save Mimi, whose soul is weighted down by unbearable sadness. It is like a black hole into which all light disappears.

Light, Light, Light is a rosy love story about the budding sexuality of the main character, and about some difficult choices that she has to make at the age of 14. The painful themes of Mariia’s story jump at the reader both directly and between the lines and push the boundaries of storytelling.

An English sample is available

Here’s a little taste:

DEAR READERS!

The famous Russian author Anton Chekhov recommended tearing up the first page of any story. He thought that the beginnings of stories were naturalism at its most ghastly.

Well now.

Go ahead and rip it up. This is your book!

Or the library’s. However, the librarians will be understanding in this case.

If you feel like Mimi’s description was naturalism at is most ghastly, then go ahead and just start reading here.

Because now is when the action starts.

Mimi said:

One more step and I shoot.

I answered:

Go ahead and shoot.

I had lived in this village a whole hell of a lot longer than Mimi. She couldn’t order me around on my own home turf. She had just moved into the white house on the top of the hill and you can bet she was afraid every night. People who haven’t grown up in the country are always afraid.

I had come to the beach to loan her my Swedish book because Mimi had flunked and was headed to summer school.

Oh God, imagine getting held back first thing at a new school!

Mimi looked at me like people look at each other in old Clint Eastwood movies.

Shooting me full of holes with her eyes.

She loaded me up with her burning sorrow. And I didn’t budge. I didn’t walk away or stagger. When a person recognizes her future love, everything around her gets sucked into it.

And then they don’t have anything else. Besides the other person.

I stood there and accepted her rapid-fire light light light.

Until Mimi said:

Would you do me a favor? Could you act like my friend?

DEAR READERS!

Acting is the KEY to this story.

Shove it in your pocket.

Abandon hope all ye who enter here! Unless you know the password.

KEYS open doors. Click! Soon you will discover secrets. Strings of accidents. Garret labyrinths.

Or at least you will think you have discovered them.

For example, in the white house on the top of the hill is a mother who puts on makeup and then puts on makeup again, even though she is dead. This mother creates dramas with eyeliner and eye shadow. Mimi hands her mother objects and her mother’s hands accept the objects. Face powder dusts the walls.

The mother herself is also a KEY.

But now I’m jumping ahead.

Tatu and Patu's Adventures in Outer Space

Otava 2011

by Aino Havukainen & Sami Toivonen

From the 2011 Otava Foreign Rights Guide:

A universally weird intergalactic adventure that thrusts forward at hyperspeed and plunges readers into orbits of laughter!

The wildly fast-paced and utterly wacky series of adventures continues – this time, the brothers from Oddsville have a go at sci-fi. Tatu and Patu take off on an adventure across the universe – their mission is to defend galactic peace and perform other important feats of derring-do.

Tatu and Patu build their own spaceship for the trip. It’s not long before the interstellar adventure shuttle I.T.S.  Bananas shoots up into the sky. Space cadet A.T.L. Antic and star pilot Styrox Box, also known as Mr. Cool, head towards the furthest reaches of the universe. As the boys are checking whether there is air in the rings of Saturn, something bright, fast, and incredibly huge crashes into them. The wings of their spaceship catch on fire and they just barely escape to the safety of the Star Union mother ship.

There, they encounter not only their greatly admired Ro-He, commander of the Star Union, but also an enormous problem: a state of emergency has been announced throughout the entire universe, because an immense, unknown destructive force is moving through the solar systems. Planets have disappeared, and all the orbits are completely out of whack.

With the help of Antic and Box and the little girl Ring-Da, the Star Union resolves its urgent problem, but they need a healthy dose of Tatu and Patu’s ingenuity and courage as well as little Ring-Da’s insights and a gigantic finger before peace is restored to the universe.

Tatu and Patu’s Adventures in Outer Space is the second book in the series Tatu and Patu’s Adventures. Tatu and Patu: Superheroes! kicked off the series to a fantastic reception, sparking comments such as: “Once more, Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen demonstrate a fine understanding of what works on little boys and girls – and older ones, too.” – kaks’plus

A sample translation in English is available.

See also:

Tatu and Patu’s This is Finland

Tatu and Patu in Helsinki

Tatu and Patu as Superheroes!

Tatu and Patu’s Oddball Bedtime Book

Tatu and Patu’s Amazing Alphabet

From the brochure:

In Finland, over 3,000 non-fiction book titles are released by publishers each year, of which around 2,000 come under the category of general non-fiction. The total number of works published in Finland in 2009 that were designated as non-fiction books – a category which includes items as diverse as annual company reports and scientific publications – was around 8,000. The spectrum of non-fiction books is so broad because the category includes everything that is not classed as fiction. This is a very substantial quantity for a country with such a small number of people who speak its national languages. … The emphasis in non-fiction publishing is on domestic topics, but of course there are books written in Finland whose style and subject matter make them eminently suitable for translation into other languages. The brochure you are currently reading contains a selection of eight high-quality, very well-written general-interest non-fiction books that have been published in Finland in the last couple of years.

Here are short descriptions of the work I did for the project:

Vertiginous Heels: The Dangerous Allure of Luxury Shoes by Mirja Tervo

Vertiginous Heels: The Dangerous Allure of Luxury Shoes by Mirja Tervo

Atena Publishing

An anthropological investigation of the New York world of luxury high heels through the eyes of a Finnish scholar and shoe seller. Funny, touching, shocking. Why would anyone do that to her (or his) feet?

Who Owns Russia? The Dynamics of Ownership and Power in Russia by Arto Luukkanen

Who Owns Russia? The Dynamics of Ownership and Power in Russia by Arto Luukkanen

WSOY Publishing

The name says it all. Scholar Arto Luukkanen studies the central role of private property rights and corporate ownership in the control currently exercised by the securocratic regime of Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev in Russia, including the historical development of ownership rights.

Don't You Know Who I Am? The History of Arrogance by Ari Turunen

Don’t You Know Who I Am? The History of Arrogance by Ari Turunen

Atena Publishing

How do jerks end up with all the power and why can’t they ever seem to hold on to it? Simple: arrogance. If it isn’t killing your father and marrying your mother, it’s invading Russia late in the year.

Faberge's Finnish Masters by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm

Faberge’s Finnish Masters by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm

Tammi Publishing

Long-time expert on the Faberge phenomenon, author Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm reveals the role played by skilled Finnish artisans in the creation of the Faberge legend. “But my dear lady, without these jewels you will by like a cow without her bell!” Now there’s some true Savo wit for you.

Wolf Mass: The Civil War of the 1590's in Finland and Sweden by Mirkka Lappalainen

Wolf Mass: The Civil War of the 1590′s in Finland and Sweden by Mirkka Lappalainen

Siltala Publishing

Yeah, Finns have never been very good at being ruled or invaded by other nations. They tend to get a bit rowdy.

Harjukaupungin salakäytävät by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

The Cinematic Life: A Novel
[Harjukaupungin salakäytävät]
by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

Ateena, 2010

Speculative fiction author Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen takes a plunge into magical realism, with cinematic results. More on this book (soon) as the project progresses. Pasi is being represented by the Kontext Agency.

An English sample and synopsis are available.

Reviews:

Jääskeläinen (…) offers international quality”

Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, a schoolteacher in Jyväskylä, has a third surprise in store for the Finnish reading public. His first novel, Lumikko and Nine Others (2006), and his short-story collection, The Zoo that Fell from the Sky (2008) caused critics to compare him to JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter.

The recently released Harjukaupungin salakäytävät (literally “The Secret Passages of the Hill City”) accelerates the pace. In it, urban development, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, the cinematization of one’s own life, dreams, childhood memories, and a touch of mysticism all intermingle.

Publisher Olli Suominen is living a steady life with his family until he connects with his childhood sweetheart Kerttu Kara through Facebook. She has become a best-selling author, and Olli manages to land her next book for his own publishing house. But when Kerttu comes to Jyväskylä to refresh her childhood memories for the book she’s writing, will Olli be able to focus on his own family life anymore?

Jääskeläinen creates an engaging package, the puzzles within which the reader desperately wants to solve. As in his debut novel, Jääskeläinen again plays with different options, offering his reader an original world where everyday reality sometimes takes on a dreamlike quality — until you thump back solidly on the ground. Harjukaupungin salakäytävät is a smooth-reading, layered novel that entices the reader along.

In the new Finnish literature, Jääskeläinen stands out refreshingly, to his credit. As a writer he has a touch that seems light but contains depth and offers international quality.

Salla Brunou

Etelä-saimaa (28.12.2010)

A few quick thoughts post-Finncon. First of all, speculative fiction is alive and well in Finland. Every panel I attended had good turn-out, and there was a lot of energy, despite some pretty stupid things being said by a few presenters. Prediction: if you tell people they won’t succeed and won’t make any money doing what they love, they won’t. Mika Waltari, Johanna Sinisalo, and Sofi Oksanen didn’t succeed and make money until they did, writing things that blew away not only the domestic audience, but also international readers. The comments from the keynote speakers, particularly Richard Morgan, were excellent, doing the opposite of what I described above: he not only gave concrete tips on successful writing, he was also generally encouraging of new authors.

All your con program are belong to us.

Panel on Finnish Science Fiction, Fantasy and Comic Books:

While at Finncon I participated in a panel on literary exports with Irma Hirsjärvi, Toni Jerrman and Cheryl Morgan, moderated by Maria Säntti. My main message was that speculative fiction is not marginal literature in the English-speaking world, especially the United States, and that there is room for foreign authors who play the game.

What is the game? To get published, you write a great book that will have international appeal, prepare a query letter, synopsis, and sample translation in English, and send them to lots and lots of people you have access to through the contacts (or an agent) are constantly making because you’ve overcome your shyness for the sake of selling your book.

And for goodness sakes, use qualified native translators and editors. It matters.

Shameless self-promotion is encouraged! (It’s called advertising)

Some reaction to the panel (in Finnish).

Speculative Fiction Translation Seminar

Prior to Finncon, Burning Bridge Literary Agency hosted a translation seminar focused on speculative fiction and comics taught by yours truly and attended by Claire Saint-Germain (France), Kristian London (US), Alexandra Stang (Germany), Mattias Huss (Sweden), and Ave Leek (Estonia), all up-and-coming literary translators. The seminar was a great success–special thanks to the organizers, Maria Säntti, Terhi Hannula, and Annukka Vähäsöyrinki, as well as our special guests, cartoonist Joonas Lehtimäki and sci-fi author M.G. Soikkeli. Also Petteri Oja of Zum Teufel Press and the Turku Sarjakuvakauppa (“comic shop”) for letting us invade his shop on short notice.

Big in Finland--Julia hamming it up with the one translation I wish I would have asked for royalties on.

See you at Finncon!

This year I’ll be running a seminar for translators interested in speculative fiction and comic translation in conjunction with Finncon, organized and funded by the Turku Burning Bridge Literary Agency project and FILI.

On Saturday as part of the Finncon program, there will be a special panel discussion on Finnish speculative fiction abroad featuring myself, Irma Hirsjärvi, Maria Säntti, Toni Jerrman, and Cheryl Morgan. The time of the panel is a little uncertain. Check announcements at the con.

If you’re attending Finncon this year, drop me a line so we can meet up!

Homo sapiens populismus: Timo Soini of the True Finns Party. Image via Wikipedia

Illustration: Joonas Väänänen

My latest Jyrki Lehtola essay translation at Books from Finland:

Big electoral turnouts are generally considered a good thing. But, writes columnist Jyrki Lehtola, in Finland the fact that the vote went up in the last Finnish general election caused a revelation. Educated urbanites and the media (perhaps near enough the same thing), are shocked by how 20 per cent of their fellow Finns think – and the ramifications caused tremors all across Europe.

Read the essay.

Essays on Desire and Doubt by Antti Nylén

Antti Nylén

From the Burning Bridge Literary Agency:

Antti Nylén (s.1973) is an essayist and translator specializing in 19th century French literature.  He has translated Baudelaire, Flaubert and J.K. Huysmans, among others. Nylén is a feminist, a devout Catholic, a vegan, a dandy, a father of two, and an exceptionally violent writer. He lives in Helsinki.

His first book, Vihan ja katkeruuden esseet (Essays on Anger and Bitterness, Savukeidas 2007) won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize for Literature in 2007 and was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Best Debut Book Award. In this polemical essay collection, Nylén writes about neckties, sex, crazy bitches, meat, pop, and God.

Antti Nylén’s second essay collection, Halun ja epäluulon esseet (Essays on Desire and Doubt, Savukeidas 2010) examines Nico, Morrissey, the possibility of being saved, buttocks, Robert Bresson, strange sensuality, religion and irreligiosity. The book received rave reviews and was nominated for the Runeberg Prize for Literature for 2010.

“Desire is pleasure in and of itself; need is a state of deprivation and distress.”

“Doubt is not-belief. Nonetheless, it is not a knowing. Doubt is a synonym for faith.”

Read the essay “On the Possiblity of Salvation” at Burning Bridge

About Essays on Desire and Doubt:

Antti Nylén’s second essay collection, Essays on Desire and Doubt, examines Nico, Morrissey, the possibility of being saved, buttocks, Robert Bresson, strange sensuality, religion and irreligiosity. These freely-meandering essays are often obstinate and always emotional.

“I hope that everyone who reads the book will become a vegetarian. And if ever before they’ve been hostile to Christianity, that they will think two friendly thoughts about it, about Jesus and the church,” Nylén has said in an interview (Uusimaa 17.1.2011).

Essays on Desire and Doubt received rave reviews and was nominated for the Runeberg Prize for Literature for 2010.

“Desire is pleasure in and of itself; need is a state of deprivation and distress.”

“Suspicion is not-belief. Nonetheless, it is not a knowing. Suspicion is a synonym for faith.”

Original title: Halun ja epäluulon esseet
Publisher: Savukeidas 2010, 393 pages
Cover design: Antti Eerikäinen

The Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki, 2005

Risto Isomäki

I grabbed The Sands of Sarasvati off the shelf as soon as I saw it in 2005, immediately devoured it, and then went looking for more from the author. It was a great pleasure to do the finishing work on the graphic novel version, and I’m thrilled now to be working on the full novel. Look for more info and a sample in fall 2011!

From the Stilton Agency:

The Sands of Sarasvati is an eco-thriller about man-made environmental catastrophe. This visionary work of literature reflects on the significance of giant tsunamis in the history of mankind. The novel had already been sent to the publisher before the tsunami hit the coastal regions of Asia in 2004.

The events take place in the near future. They encompass Finland, the continental ice sheet of Greenland, and the Indian Ocean. The Russian researcher Sergey is trying to investigate the mystery of a sunken city in the Gulf of Cambay. He works together with his colleague Amrita, and with an Indian research body. At the same time, Finnish researcher Kari Ahola tries to solve the problem of melting ice sheets. He cooperates with a research unit in Greenland, run by the Filipino recluse Susan Chang, which also studies the ice sheets. These two lines of research line up surprisingly well, resulting in the discovery that the ice sheets are in imminent danger of melting. This would result in a catastrophic tsunami and flood. The researchers also begin to find answers to questions posed thousands of years ago.

In the book’s climax, although scientists have been able to predict the birth of the tsunami, there is no time to prevent it.

In addition to the plot, the selling point of this novel is the expertise of the author at making complex science accessible. Isomäki creates suspense through the research paths of the novel’s heroes. The reader is given an extensive view of world history, its natural phenomenon, the birth and development of civilisations, the structure of space, and the mystery of Atlantis. Isomäki is at his most impressive when describing the polar ice sheets: the unpredictability of snow, ice, air and water; their movement and shapes. He captivates the reader with his unique insight into the complexities of water.

The book was nominated for the Finlandia prize for literature. It was already awarded the Thank You for the Book medal, and the Star Wanderer (Tähtivaeltaja) prize for science fiction.

Reviews:

“The Sands of Sarasvati is an eco-thriller of apocalyptic proportions, which culminates in a giant flood. The book is both topical, and frighteningly believable. It is a lesson in how our melting of the polar ice sheets may trigger a tsunami that threatens the entire globe. Isomäki’s thought provoking and captivating thriller is flooded with cultural and historical knowledge, and with old wisdom from the East.” Finlandia Prize judges panel

“The Sands of Sarasvati is a cleverly written thriller which goes many levels deeper than just the prospect of an environmental catastrophe.” -Kansan Uutiset

“The Sands of Sarasvati is a frightening thriller because its set-up is so very real. This book must be commended for the way that it handles a difficult subject, and explains the complex causative chain to the reader. At long last, we get to read a literary work that has a lot to say. The Sands of Sarasvati is a significant contribution to the ongoing dialogue about climate change.“ -Parnasso

“Thanks to its subject and the way it is written, The Sands of Sarasvati is one of the key books of this autumn. As a narrator of the movement of snow and ice, Isomäki is as captivating as Peter Hoeg was in his novel Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” -Aamulehti

Publishers:
Finland, Tammi (Bonnier)
Denmark, Turbine Forlaget
Germany, Lübbe
Spain, Booket (Planeta)
Poland, Kojro
Estonia, Kunst Publishers
Lithuania, Tyto Alba
Latvia, Dienas Gramata
Turkey, Bizim Kitaplar
Hungary, Nyitott Könyv

Atena, 2003 by Tiina Pihlajamäki

It doesn’t matter where the war happened, who the opposing forces were, or what justifications were given. After the dust settles, after the dead are removed, the work of survival continues for the living. The world seeks justice, but at the cost of retraumatizing the innocent.

Tiina Pihlajamäki’s You Can’t Tell About It explores the aftermath of a fictional eastern European conflict reminiscent of the Bosnian War in the mind of a young girl, Mirjana, who remained relatively unscathed by the atrocities experienced by so many others. Or did she? How can even the victim know when memories are the new enemy and what you can remember you can’t recount.

Although fictional, You Can’t Tell About It tackles the difficult and generally overlooked subject of the effects of conflict on children in the same spirit as The Diary of Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary.

“You Can’t Tell About It isn’t light reading, but in its weightiness it offers a lot to think about. It speaks to and touches the reader. After reading it, your own small, every-day problems take on a new scale.”

-Amira Al Bayaty,15.10.2003 Kiiltomato

Full English translation available soon. English language rights available.

What happens to you in hell if your last name really is Bastard? Can’t a fox girl living in the human world catch a break? Do you really have to slow down in your eighties? These and many more important, hilarious, and twisted life questions we’ve all been wondering about are tackled by the comic artists of Turku, Finland.

I recently translated and/or edited several comics samples for the Burning Bridge Literary Agency in Turku. There is some seriously funny stuff here.

View the whole brochure (PDF 4.5 mb)

Mika Lietzén: Yesterday, Tomorrow (Eilen, huomenna), a graphic novel
Ave Koskela: Mr. Bastard’s Flower Book (Armaksen kukkakirja), a comic strip album
Anni Nykänen: Granny (Mummo), a comic strip
Tuuli Hypén: Nelly (Nanna), a comic strip
Jupu: Barbutterfly (Baarien nainen), a comic strip
Joonas Lehtimäki: Anonymous Animals (Anonyymit eläimet)