Loukko by 
We are very thrilled to announce that HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER, an autobiographical novel by Kaj Korkea-aho, has been nominated for the 2024 Finlandia Prize in Fiction!
Kaj Korkea-aho is one of the most celebrated modern Finland-Swedish authors. His works have received both critical and commercial success and numerous accolades, including the Swedish Literature Society Prize, the Thank You for the Book Award, and nominations for the Nordic Council Literature Prize and the Finlandia Prize for children’s and YA literature. Kaj Korkea-aho’s works have been translated into 7 languages.
The jury praised the novel:
In this autofictional work, which challenges genre boundaries, the longing to become a parent is explored with raw honesty and an unforced style. The narrator contemplates what the moral lesson of the story could be: is it a tale of failure, or does hope find a happy ending? This creates a tension that is only released in the final lines. For the reader, the resolution of the protagonists’ journey offers a profound emotional experience, built upon strong empathy.
Click here to download all materials for HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER
Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be chosen by Golden Globe-nominated actress Alma Pöysti, star of Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes-winning film Fallen Leaves. The announcement will take place on November 27.
HOW WE MET YOUR MOTHER
Kaj Korkea-aho
An autobiographical story about a gay couple’s journey to co-parenting
After eight years together, Kaj and Niko, living in Helsinki, decide to try to become parents. They start dating women, but the search for a co-parent seems impossible at first. What has to be right so that one could dare trust a complete stranger? Whose sperm cells should be used? How do you plan the future of a family that is outside the norms, in a society that is still coded heterosexually?
Kaj Korkea-aho’s autobiographical text about how three parents had a child is irresistibly touching, painful, and humorous. It bears traces of all forms of expression mastered by Korkea-aho – novel, podcast, blog, and drama – and can also be used as a kind of handbook for others in the same life situation. The book grabs the reader like a baby with its little hand and doesn’t let go until the book has been finished and the wonder of life has become a fact.
Publication Info:
Hur man möter en mamma
Förlaget, 2024, 240 pp.
Reading materials:
English sample and synopsis
Swedish edition (orig.)
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish)
FINLAND: Otava (Finnish)
