PINE BARK by Tommi Kinnunen nominated for Botnia Literature Prize!

More award news: Tommi Kinnunen’s PINE BARK has been nominated for the Botnia Literature Prize! The Botnia is worth 15,000 EUR and goes to one selected literary novel published by a commercial publisher, with the writer coming from North Ostrobothnia. PINE BARK, published by one of the biggest houses in Finland, certainly qualifies.

PINE BARK was nominated from a record number of 99 other works and will compete with 7 others. This year the biggest factor for nomination was, in the jury’s words, strong narrative “that moved and carried me away” and that this is “a year of writing about wounds”. Like all of Tommi Kinnunen’s work, PINE BARK gives a voice to women and others who have historically suffered in silence.

Praise for PINE BARK on Mun Oulu media’s website:

Tommi Kinnunen’s characteristic sensory descriptions and polished expression form a lifelike and touching whole that does not let the reader go easy. PINE BARK kicks the legs out from under you and knocks the wind from your lungs.”

The winner will be chosen on November 9th 2024 – lots of onnea to Tommi Kinnunen!

Click here to download all materials for PINE BARK.

About PINE BARK:

A person cannot return to being who they once were without knowing who they have been.

In 2001, three siblings – Martti and twin sisters Eeva and Marja – meet in a small village in Northern Finland. Their mother Laina, an old woman who has been through the Second World War, is dying and the children have gathered to arrange the funeral. Even though the siblings have always been on good terms, Martti has always felt aloof, the odd man out. All of them reminisce about their childhood, but Martti remembers things slightly differently than the sisters.

As the novel progresses, the readers are transported through the decades and through Laina’s story, culminating in the Soviet partisan attack during the summer of 1944 that irrevocably changed Laina’s life. She has refused to recall the events and, at the same time, has denied her children the opportunity of remembering and recovering. “One can only talk about men’s war, as the women’s war is soundless and forbidden.”

As his mother’s death grows nearer, Martti reaches out to connect with his siblings and attempts to fill in the gaps in the story, but is it already too late?