Loukko by 
We are delighted to represent new authors at the Ahlback Agency in spring 2025 and we are so excited to share with you all of our new authors and their titles!
Welcome to the Ahlback Agency
FICTION:
Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen, Aamos Honka, Ulla Onerva, Anna Harju
CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT:
Päivi Lukkarila, Sanna Sofia Vuori and Silja-Maria Wihersaari, Siri Kolu, Daniela Hakulinen, JS Meresmaa and Elina Äijälä, Heidi Roth
NON-FICTION:
Sanna Nyqvist, Jennifer De Paola
CLICK HERE to check out the full Spring 2025 catalogue
FICTION
Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen: The Saprophile
Anna-Kaari Hakkarainen (b. 1979) is a native of Helsinki and lived her childhood in Kamppi and Lauttasaari. She has worked as editor-in-chief of Muoto magazine and won the Vaasa Prize for Design Journalism. Today, she works as a communications entrepreneur. Hakkarainen holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Art and Design, where she studied visual culture research.
Photo credit: Riikka Kantinkoski
The Saprophile, Finlandia Prize nominee 2024
The Saprophile is a hypnotic treatise on power and writing. It is the autopsy of a novel, a hybrid that seeks to go where genres end. It is a novel about Ingmar Bergman’s films, about a desire that refuses to obey, about an island, about how easy it is to lose yourself in another person, and how difficult it is to find your way back.
Aamos Honka: Crimson Web
Aamos Honka has been a part of the Finnish intelligence community over a decade and continues to work for the Finnish government. Drawing from his professional expertise, Aamos crafts gripping and realistic thrillers that delve deep into the high-stakes world of international espionage. He lives with his family in the picturesque Finnish archipelago, where he finds inspiration for his writing. In his free time, Aamos enjoys hunting and ice swimming.
Crimson Web
Planes collide in London. Electricity and information networks are attacked in Finland. Janne Peura from military intelligence and Laura Vesterinen from the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service track down signs of foreign power operations. When Janne and Laura’s lines cross, they take on major roles in a high stakes international game.
Once you read the book, the news headlines will never look the same to you.
The sequel to Crimson Web, book #2 in the Janne Peura series, is slated to be published in Finland in November 2025.
Ulla Onerva: Cotton Candy Dilemma
Ulla Onerva (b. 1995) is an author, journalist, award-winning reading enthusiast, and the BookTok queen of Finland. She is one of the most popular literature-related content producers in Finland. Ulla has written stories since early childhood, and she has studied journalism, literature, and writing. She started to write romantic stories because she wants to get the readers, especially young adults, hooked on good books. In Instagram and TikTok, Ulla can be found by the nickname @tarinannuppuja.
Cotton Candy Dilemma
A witty feel-good novel about Emma, named after Jane Austen’s heroine, who defends romantic literature but is drawn to an insufferable hater of romance.
Ulla Onerva’s debut novel Cotton Candy Dilemma is the first title in the Quirky Romantics series, a humorous commercial trilogy that cleverly weaves the romantic classics of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë into the modern day. The trilogy is perfect for anyone who refuses to hide their love of romance books!
Anna Harju: Traces
Anna Harju (b. 1983) enjoys atmospheric detective stories with a compelling, complex plot. By profession, she is a translator and communication multitasker.
Traces
There are secrets whose revelation will have fatal consequences. There is no escaping them, no matter how hard you try. Must one always pay for their mistakes?
A well-liked pharmacist is found murdered at his workplace. Suspicion falls on pharmacist Joanna Vihervuori, the last person to see her boss alive. Joanna insists she is innocent, but the case begins to twist around her in a strange way.
For Tampere Police Detective Inspector Taro Auramo, this murder investigation is the place to prove himself. The white dust on the dead pharmacist’s cheek raises doubts about whether his business is completely clean, and soon nothing will be as it seems.
Psychologically astute and utterly addictive, Traces is the first in the Taro Auramo crime series set in Tampere. Book #2 is slated to be published in 2026 and book #3 in 2027.
CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT
Päivi Lukkarila: Deep in the Woods
Päivi Lukkarila, born in 1967, is a Tampere-based author known for her sensitive yet realistic portrayal of young people’s lives and emotions in her novels. In addition to the Finlandia Prize, she was awarded the Klara Prize in 2024, which is granted for an outstanding easy-to-read book for children or YA in Finnish or Swedish. She has also won the Tampere City Literature Prize twice. Furthermore, her books have been nominated for both the Arvid Lydecken and Anni Polva literary awards. In addition to her work as an author, Lukkarila teaches Finnish language and literature.
Photo credit: Juho Mustonen
Deep in the Woods, Finlandia Prize winner 2024
Four very different teens sent on a smartphone-free wilderness expedition…
Luka feels like he’s in high school only to satisfy his parents. Why bother with something you’re not interested in?
Sabina’s relationship with Nella has ended. Nella liked her when she was just “conveniently” queer, girly and long-haired. Now that Sabina has decided to be who she always wanted to be, Nella has left her. How do the other three participants in the hike feel about her?
Nasim, from Nokia, dreams of studying literature and becoming a writer, but is constantly confronted with prejudice.
Joel is convinced that one day he’ll be a world-famous stand-up comedian. Comedy’s tough, and it’s easy to overdo it when you’re trying to make people laugh. Joel tells a very different story about his background. What’s real, and what is he making up?
The expedition is only supposed to last three days, but a fateful event changes everything and the teens have to survive in the wild without their guide. They try to entertain each other with ghost stories, and as they tell them, their own frightening childhood experiences come back to haunt them. There seems to be something creepy about their surroundings. What was it in there that spooked all the tourists and will the four be left to wander the wilds until their final days?
Sanna Sofia Vuori and Silja-Maria Wihersaari: The Marvelous Suitcase
Helsinki-based Sanna Sofia Vuori is a versatile player in the world of children’s culture. She has produced a children’s literature programme online, the Estridi book club, made children’s theatre and brought exhibitions to kindergarten and pre-school children. A Finlandia Junior nominee, Vuori has written several children’s books in both Finnish and Swedish.
Photo credit: Frida Lönnroos
Silja-Maria Wihersaari is a renowned children’s book illustrator and pattern designer known for her exquisite illustrations, who has also been awarded for her illustrations.
The Marvelous Suitcase
A charming and enchanting children’s tale.
“Daria Duck staggered down the hill, kicking up sand and wobbling her bowler hat. She was on her way to see her best friend, Froberta Frog.”
Daria spots a battered suitcase in Froberta’s gateway. What on earth could be in it?
One by one, the neighbours turn up at Froberta’s house to wonder about the strange suitcase. Each visitor invents a story about what might be inside that reflects their own personality. For example, Simo the Lemon Butterfly’s imagination is full of fairies and dew beads. Etty Snail, on the other hand, thinks the contents will be a rockstar’s guitar. Finally, the suitcase is opened and the contents delight everyone!
Siri Kolu: Twin World Series: Saving Atlantis
Siri Kolu (born July 18, 1972) is a writer, performance dramaturg, director, and theater teacher. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Theatre Arts and Bachelor of Arts degree as Drama Instructor (BA). Her works have been translated into over 20 languages.
Twin World Series: Saving Atlantis
Can Atlantis be saved before disaster strikes?
12-year-old El(ektra) starts sleepwalking and has recurring nightmares of masses of water under which there is no escape. After doing research with her friends Maxxam and Cal, El discovers that the underwater city in her nightmares is ancient Atlantis.
In the city of Atlantis, young Elektra has strange dreams at night about tall glass towers and flying planes. With inventor genius Dobro, Elektra begins to test whether the visions could be real. Based on the dreams, they build a submarine called a wave diver.
Can the Elektras help each other? Can they be rescued from under the waves…and what would it cost?
Daniela Hakulinen and Ilona Ahti: Girls, Girls, Girls
Daniela Hakulinen (b.1984) is a film and television screenwriter who grew up in Northern Finland and later moved to Helsinki. Girl Picture, co-written with Ilona Ahti, made history by being the first Finnish feature film selected for the international competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Hakulinen and Ahti won the Jussi and Sylvi prizes for their screenplay. In addition to film, Daniela Hakulinen writes television series, works as a dramaturg and teaches screenwriting. Girls Girls Girls is her debut novel. Ilona Ahti, previously represented by Ahlback Agency, has collaborated with Daniela Hakulinen on Girls Girls Girls.
Photo credit: Otto Virtanen
Girls, Girls, Girls
In frosty Helsinki, the lives of three teenage girls change over the course of three weekends. They discover sex, love and friendship, but most of all, they discover their own voices.
Mimmi has decided not to believe in love, while her best friend Rönkkö thirsts for connection. The two work together at a smoothie bar, where one day they meet Emma.
The figure skating prodigy Emma finds herself in the middle of a bet on whether you can fall in love with just one look. Mimmi and Emma quickly form an irresistible bond, the kind of attraction between them that Rönkkö dreams of. In the end, each of them must ask themselves what they are prepared to fight for.
Ilona Ahti and Daniela Hakulinen’s unabashed text lets the girls’ feelings and thoughts bleed through the pages. The novel deepens and adds new layers to the story of the successful film written by the duo. Girl Picture hit the big screens in 2022, winning awards both in Finland and internationally.
JS Meresmaa and Elina Äijälä: Darkclaw
J. S. Meresmaa (b. 1983, she/they) is an award-winning Finnish author who mainly writes fantasy and other speculative fiction. Many of Meresmaa’s stories have feminist aspects and queer characters. She has a talent for bringing fictional characters to life, and a keen sense of great plot twists and pacing. Her writing style is both emotive, strong, and engaging.
Photo credit: Outi Puhakka
Elina Äijälä (they/them) is an illustrator whose main inspirations include fantasy, folklore and horror.
Darkclaw
13-year-old Aapo has moved to the village of Black Gorge. One day he sees a mysterious character whose tattoo bears a striking resemblance to the one his recently deceased grandfather had. Could it be a coincidence? When Aapo ends up playing disc golf near the woods of Lumola Manor, it seems that there are other strange things going on in the village. Aapo encounters his first monster – and the estate is full of them.
While not all the monsters living in the manor are dangerous, some of them are. Aapo begins to have nightmares about the looming darkness. Soon he finds himself caught in the middle of events, where dreams and truth mix into an unstoppable vortex.
Heidi Roth: Lumina
Heidi Roth (b.1979) is an author from Helsinki, Finland, who has written three books; the crime novel Sin Factory (Syntitehdas) 2013, the historical thriller Bloodline (Verivanat) 2017 and fantasy adventure Lumina, 2024. Roth holds MBA in marketing and Master of Arts in media production. She has worked in marketing and communications at the National Museum of Finland and as a commercial producer at the broadcaster MTV Oy. Roth currently works in marketing and communications at internationally known congress and event venue Finlandia Hall. The author has also been living in five different cities around the world (Los Angeles, Manchester, Phuket, Milan and Mexico City).
Photo credit: Irina Hurme
Lumina
Lumina lives in the mythological world called Middler and she is being trained as the next shaman of her bear tribe. Lumina needs to get the power of the forest and water people and the secrets of spell poems in order to increase her knowledge. However, the threat of Louhi, the ruler of Pohjola, is hovering over Middler, and there are signs which lay the shadow to their lives.
The storyworld has been designed on the basis of the Finnish and Karelian mythology as well as the national epic: Kalevala.
NON-FICTION
Sanna Nyqvist: By the Seashore: How Writers Discovered the sea
Sanna Nyqvist is a non-fiction writer and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Helsinki. Her writings reveal unique perspectives on literature and living with books. Kirjalliset väärennökset (2018, together with Outi Oja) deals with the dark side of literary history, and Räjähdemiehen perintö (2019) takes us behind the scenes of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Nyqvist is also a columnist for the literary magazine Parnasso.
photo credit: Markko Taina
By the Seashore, Finlandia Prize nominee 2024
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.
Jennifer De Paola: The Happiness Puzzle
Jennifer De Paola, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and researcher with a fascination for how ordinary people understand life’s biggest questions. Her research on happiness—particularly its cultural aspect in Finland—has been published in top social sciences journals like Public Understanding of Science, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, and Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science. Along the way, her research has sparked conversations on international platforms, including interviews on BBC TV and Business Insider.
The Happiness Puzzle
Finns are known for their quiet, reserved nature and their tendency to keep emotions in check, don’t exactly fit the traditional image of a “happy” nation. They don’t smile on command or express emotions as openly as people in other countries might. And yet, Finland continues to top the happiness rankings year after year.
This paradox is where the story begins. Building on Finland’s paradoxical position in the World Happiness Report, this book reveals the limitations of defining happiness purely as life satisfaction (contentment). Adopting a fresh perspective, it suggests a fuller, more nuanced understanding of happiness — one that begins with how ordinary people define and experience it. By exploring how ordinary people in Finland describe their own happiness, the book paints a picture that goes beyond the simple contentment, highlighting the skills needed to navigate three essential dimensions of happiness: emotions, contentment and meaning.