THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT TV dramatization wins 50,000 Euro award! - Elina Ahlback Literary Agency - One of the leading Nordic literary agenciesElina Ahlback Literary Agency – One of the leading Nordic literary agencies

Mia Kankamaki The Women I think About At Night US

Excellent TV rights news today: The TV dramatization of THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT by our world traveling author Mia Kankimäki has won Tallinn’s TV Beats Series Co-Production Development Award!

The award includes an initiation by the Council of Europe for 50,000 EUR toward development of the TV series. We anticipate production by napafilms in 2025.

The jury explained their decision-making process:

[We] selected a project that seamlessly combines AI and live action, archival material and fiction, tackling universal themes in a bold and impactful way. It explores identity and self-discovery from a female lens, highlights the power of learning from diverse cultures, and draws inspiration from brave and curious historical women.”

The article from popular entertainment magazine Variety describes the drama (and book) concisely:

Produced by Liisa Karpo for Napafilms, the project turns on a 40-year-old art teacher with no family who one day abandons her comfortable but unsatisfying life. With the help of a group of fellow courageous women, past artists and explorers from history, she finds a new way of living. The series is planned to be shot in a wide range of diverse locations as its protagonist explores the world, including Finland, Italy, Japan, Tibet, and Kenya.

Inspired by such great source material, this is surely a drama to watch!

You can read the full Variety article here, and also the Screen Daily article here.

Click here to access the English PDF of THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT.

Publication Info:
Naiset joita ajattelen öisin, Otava 2018, 448 pp

Reading Material:
English edition

Rights Sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.), ALBANIA: Muza, CHINA: Beijing Huaxia Winshare Books Co., Ltd., CZECH REPUBLIC: Albatros Media / Motto, DENMARK: Bilgrav, ESTONIA: Varrak Publishers, FRANCE (paperback): Folio, FRANCE: Editions Leduc, GERMANY: BTB, HUNGARY: Kossuth, ITALY: Neri Pozza Editore, JAPAN: Soshisha, LATVIA: Zvaigzne ABC Publishers, LITHUANIA: Leidykla Gelmes, NETHERLANDS: Orlando, NORWAY: Gursli Berg Forlag, POLAND: Poznańskie, RUSSIA: Eksmo, SLOVENIA: Didakta, SWEDEN: Wahlström & Widstrand, UK: Simon & Schuster, USA: Simon & Schuster, FILM & TV RIGHTS: napafilms oy

Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki is the author of two best-selling books which blend travelogue, memoir, biography, and women’s history. After taking a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki and working diligently in Finnish publishing, in 2010 she left her job and traveled to Japan to write her first book. Her books have received several literary awards, for example the Best Travel Book of the Year 2013, the HelMet Award 2015, and Otava Book Foundation’s Non-Fiction Award 2020. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland, whenever she’s not traveling for her next book project.

Mia has been enthusiastic about Japanese culture for years and is a qualified ikebana teacher of the Sogetsu school. Her first book Things That Make One’s Hear Beat Faster took her to Kyoto where she has spent long periods of writing and making research ever since. Kankimäki’s second book The Women I Think About at Night has sold over 55,000 copies in Finland and the translation rights have been sold to 21 territories, including USA and China.

Mia's both books have been aqcuired by Japanese publisher Soshisha:

"I am delighted to share that Mia Kankimäki’s debut title, THINGS THAT MAKE ONE’S HEART BEAT FASTER, is embraced and loved by many Japanese readers. A cross between an autobiography and a travelogue, the author finds an emotional connection with a woman geographically far apart and from a different era and tries to discover who she really was. I believe this style is reflected in THE WOMEN I THINK ABOUT AT NIGHT as well. Though some of the female figures in this second book might not be well-known locally, I am looking forward to seeing how our readers will react to their lifestyles." - Daisuke Watanabe, Editor, Soshisha

About author

Mia Kankimäki

Bibliography