Two of Finland’s most imaginative authors, Johanna Sinisalo and Emmi Itäranta, have drawn serious international attention in late 2014.
Johanna Sinisalo’s The Blood of Angels (Teos 2011), published this fall by Peter Owen, has been praised by Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, and received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist.
In addition, well-known science fiction and fantasy site Tor.com recently published an excerpt of The Blood of Angels and hosted a book giveaway that drew a slew of enthusiastic responses from readers.
“At the intersection of science and fiction, award-winning Finnish author Sinisalo digs deep into a character who’s searching for answers about his child, his life, and what may come after. Stunning prose takes the reader down a twisting path between gritty ecoterrorism and another world, with winged messengers leading the way.”
– Library Journal, starred review
“Sinisalo juxtaposes one man’s personal grief with impending ecological disaster in this compelling and intimate rumination on animal rights, world food supply, and the indispensable role of bees to our environment…The story is told with a quiet, literary precision.”
– Booklist, starred review
Sinisalo’s latest novel, The Core of the Sun (Teos 2013) was published in Germany by Klett-Cotta this year, and is scheduled for a 2015 World English publication by Grove Atlantic.
Meanwhile, The Guardian has named Emmi Itäranta’s speculative fiction debut Memory of Water (Teos 2012), published this summer by Harper Voyager, one of the year’s best science fiction books. Memory of Water has previously received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Itäranta’s independent follow-up, City of Woven Streets, is slated for a 2015 publication.
“Too few non-Anglo-phone genre writers make it through the language barrier and into our bookshops. One who has is Emmi Itäranta, whose poetic and melancholy debut Memory of Water (Harper Voyager) was originally published in her native Finnish. Itäranta, now resident in Kent, translated it herself into flawless English. But how many non-Anglophone writers have such polylingual skills?”
– The Guardian newspaper
RIGHTS SOLD: THE BLOOD OF ANGELS
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
WORLD ENGLISH, Peter Owen
FRANCE, Actes Sud
POLAND, Foksal
RIGHTS SOLD: THE CORE OF THE SUN
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
CZECH REPUBLIC, Euromedia
FRANCE, Actes Sud
GERMANY, Klett-Cotta
WORLD ENGLISH, Grove Atlantic
Reading material:
The Blood of Angels
English edition
French edition
Finnish edition
The Core of the Sun
German edition
English sample
Finnish edition
RIGHTS SOLD: MEMORY OF WATER
Original publisher: FINLAND, Teos
WORLD ENGLISH, HarperCollins (2-book deal)
ARABIC, Dar Al Muna
BRAZIL, Record (2-book-deal)
BULGARIA, Perseus
CZECH, Albatros Media/Plus
DENMARK, Turbine
ESTONIA, Koolibri
FRANCE, Place des Editeurs (2-book deal)
GEORGIA, Palitra L Publishing
GERMANY, DTV/Reihe Hanser
HUNGARY, Metropolis Media (2-book deal)
ITALY, Piemme
JAPAN, Nishimura Shoten (2-book deal)
KOREA, The Book in My Life
NORWAY, Gresvik Forlag
SPAIN, Ediciones B.
TURKEY, Dogan Egmont
RIGHTS SOLD: CITY OF WOVEN STREETS
WORLD ENGLISH: HarperCollins
BRAZIL: Record
FRANCE, Place des Editeurs
HUNGARY: Metropolis Media
JAPAN: Nishimura Shoten
Reading material:
Memory of Water
English edition
German edition
Spanish edition
City of Woven Streets
English sample
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