Introducing BY THE SEASHORE: How Writers Discovered the Sea – first sale to Germany and awarded with Lauri Jäntti Prize Honorary Award!

Follow Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Tove Jansson and other classic writers to the beach and experience the landscape through the eyes of a writer.

We are thrilled to introduce our new, award-winning non-fiction title, BY THE SEASHORE: How Writers Discovered the Sea, by Sanna Nyqvist. Today, we’re also  excited to share the news of its first foreign sale to Germany!

The German rights to this 2024 Finlandia Award nominee in Non-Fiction have been pre-empted by mareverlag. Here’s what they had to say about this remarkable non-fiction title:

“A wonderful and exciting narrative about the relationship between great writers and the sea. We are absolutely delighted with this book and really looking forward to accompanying its launch on the German market!”

Adding to its acclaim, the book has just received the 2024 Lauri Jäntti Prize Honorary Award. Lauri Jäntti’s foundation was founded in 1983, in order to promote and support nonfiction works from Finland. The yearly prize of 20,000 euros is given to the best Finnish or Finnish-Swedish nonfiction book published during the previous year, and one or several nonfictions receive the recognition award of 7500 euros.

By the Seashore blends place and culture, drawing comparisons to the celebrated works of Mia Kankimäki, Dorthe Nors, and Nina Burton. This inspiring and rare gem takes readers on a literary journey to the shorelines, exploring how the sea has shaped the works of iconic authors. We couldn’t be happier to see it reaching new shores!

We will have an English sample later on, closer to the publication of our Spring list.

“Written in beautiful, polished language, this work explores what a landscape does to a person – and vice versa. Its surprising, original perspective broadens the topic from literature to the environment that people have shaped to their liking over centuries. A small, great book.”

– 2024 Finlandia Prize Jury

By the Seashore: How Writers Discovered the Sea
Sanna Nyqvist

By the Seashore is a fascinating journey through salt-scented cultural history and to the authors’ favourite beaches. Jane Austen adventured along the south coast of England, Marcel Proust returned year after year to the shimmering light of Normandy, and Tove Jansson created her own paradise on an island in the Gulf of Finland. The magic of the beaches is part of our shared experience and our relationship with nature. But how long will we be able to experience our beloved beaches as they are now? This was already being pondered by August Strindberg in the late 19th century, when industry and tourism were shaping the Stockholm archipelago.

By the Seashore is a gripping and surprising account of why beaches have become landscapes of emotion, safe havens as well as  islands of adventure.

“In this captivatingly paced nonfiction book, the seashore appears both as an emotional image and a picturesque landscape.”

– Turun Sanomat newspaper, Kaisa Kurikka, Finland