Helsinki Literary Agency

12/02/2026

The Voices Across / Voces a Través fellowship was a success! 🧡🌍

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting our English- and Spanish-speaking colleagues for the Voices Across / Voces a Través fellowship. Six publishing professionals from the UK, Spain and Mexico joined us to hear more about the Finnish publishing world!

The week kicked off with presentations from various Finnish publishers and literary professionals. Aleksi Pöyry, publisher at Gummerus Kustannus, presented an overview of the Finnish literary landscape. Tiia Strandén, director at FILI - Finnish Literature Exchange gave a presentation on Finnish literature exports. Martin Welander from Schildts & Söderströms shared an excellent presentation on publishing books in Swedish, Finland’s second official language, and Mirjam Ilvas gave an interesting presentation about the biggest publishing house in Finland, WSOY. A huge thank you to our Finnish colleagues and friends!

Our guests also had the time to enjoy some lovely Finnish experiences. The outdoor sauna at Uunisaari was a big hit, and the impressive Helsinki Central Library Oodi was naturally also on the agenda. They also got to taste Runeberg torte, which is enjoyed on Runeberg day in honor of Finland’s national poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg.

It was truly an inspiring week! We’ve made new friends and partnerships for the future. This is why we host fellowships, to create new connections around the world and help Finnish literature reach a wider audience. We could not be happier with the way everything turned out.

We will continue to host fellowships, and we hope to meet many more of you in the future!⭐️✨🌍

05/12/2025

Hello from the Big Apple! 😍

Helsinki Literary Agency couldn’t be more thrilled and proud to share this wonderful news:

Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen has been chosen as the ”Book of the Month” for Stephen Colbert’s Late Show book club.

Beasts of the Sea has been sold to 28 language territories and is already published in 18. you deserve the warmest congratulations! 💙✨

30/09/2025

Happy International Translation Day to all our fantastic translators - we couldn't do this without you! 💐✨️

18/09/2025

The Lit-Quest project continues! Last week Helsinki Literary Agency hosted the Literary Professionals’ Residency in Helsinki for three very lovely and talanted publishers, Sigita Pūkienė, Hannah Chukwu and Bettina Wörgötter! ✨✨✨

We kicked off the week with inspiring lectures from our guest speakers. The themes were:

• From Gatekeeping to Door-Opening: Rethinking Equity in Publishing
• Story Fishers: A Glance into the Deep Waters of Small Literature
• Is it the End of the Book as we know it?

We also had some wonderful presentations from our Finnish collegues and friends. Aleksi Pöyry, publisher at , presented the landscape of Finnish literature. Tiia Strandén, director at , gave a presentation on Finnish literature exports, and Roland Juthman from , shared a wonderful presentation on publishing books for readers with learning difficulties.

The week also left room for some Finnish experiences. Our guests enjoyed the outdoor sauna in Furuvik and visited the impressive Helsinki Central Library Oodi.

It was truly a wonderful week filled with interesting conversations and ideas for the future. We also had the pleasure of interviewing all three guests about their early careers and the insights they’ve gained from this residency, so keep an eye out! The interviews will be published soon on our website. 💚

27/08/2025

Several of our wonderful illustrators are in the spotlight at the Kollektivet exhibition at the Helsinki Art Hall. Check out the news on our website! 🎊

The Helsinki Art Hall is hosting the Kollektivet exhibition, a collection of illustrations from Finnish children’s books penned by dozens of the most prominent and most-loved Finnish illustrators, and illustrations by several HLA illustrators have made the list. The works of Maija Hurme, Sanna Pel...

06/02/2025

Wonderful news for our children’s list: The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has won the Runeberg Junior Prize 💐✨

This is the second Runeberg Prize for Klingenberg, already awarded for The Fantastic Alfredo. The award is special for the fact that the winner is voted by children readers themselves.
The preliminary jury have chosen the book stating:“[The Sisters of the Desert by Malin] Klingenberg may be to blame if children are groggy in the morning, because it is difficult to put the book away once one has come into the adventures of sisters Saba and Sarina. The Sisters of the Desert contains all the ingredients of an epic fantasy: friendship, family, supernatural powers, and the fight between good and evil.“

The Sisters of the Desert is a beautiful story of adventure, magic, friendship, and sisterly love in a world where some adults are ruthless and children are left to fend for themselves. The book is illustrated by Eeva Nikunen and the Finnish edition is translated from Swedish by Outi Menna.

Malin Klingenberg is one of Finland’s most prominent Swedish-speaking authors. Her extensive production, ranging from picture books all the way to YA, has been loved, read, and translated into many languages all over the world. The Sisters of the Desert marks her fantasy debut, proving she can successfully add one more genre to her impressively polyhedric production. Her works are published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms

Warmest congratulations to the author!

The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has been awarded the Runeberg Junior Prize. The book has marked Malin Klingenberg’s debut in the fantasy genre. Wonderful news for our children’s list: The Sisters of the Desert by Malin Klingenberg has won the Runeberg Junior Prize. This is the sec...

06/02/2025

Wonderful news for our romance readers: Heir to the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell, in translation by Mattias Huss, is running for the Storytel Awards in Sweden, in the category best novel. The nomination is based on the most listened to and highest rated titles on Storytel in 2024💐✨

The Cotton Mill Trilogy has been a wonderful success in Finland, where it sold over 200.000 copies, and the foreign rights have already been sold to five territories. Antell’s latest work, Christmas at the Cotton Mill, is also running for the Storytel Awards in Finland.

Antell’s works are published in Finland by Gummerus. In Sweden, they are published by Storytel.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher, and fingers crossed!

Heir to the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell is running for the Storytel Awards in Sweden. Antells’s latest work, Christmas at the Cotton Mill, is also running for the Storytel Awards in Finland. Wonderful news for our romance readers: Heir to the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell, in translati...

05/02/2025

Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Runeberg Prize. This is the first Runeberg win for Saisio, who is celebrating 50 years of authorship this year ✨❤️

The jury have motivated their choice as follows:
“The winner of this year’s Runeberg Prize is a raw and poetic portrait of one of world’s history most notorious tyrants. Despite its historical context the novel also tells about us and the world we now live in. With her deft touch, focused and crystal-clear, the author captures both the boundless evil of the human soul and its vulnerability. A masterpiece.”

Saisio's production is now with right part of world literature, and she is regarded as the grand dame of Finnish literature. In Finland, her works are published by Siltala Kustannus.

Warmest congratulations to the author and the publisher!💐

Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Runeberg Prize. This is the first Runeberg win for Saisio, who is celebrating 50 years of authorship this year. Suliko by Pirkko Saisio has won the Runeberg Prize which, named after the Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, is considered the second...

03/02/2025

Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Vartio Award for her authorship and life's work. 💐✨

The jury have highlighted that Saisio is being awarded for her innovative production, which has renewed the literary scene in Finland and continues to reach and speak to new generations. The jury, consisting of journalist Anna-Liisa Haavikko, author Helena Ruuska, and publisher Urpu Strellman, have stated:

"In Finnish literature Saisio's works form a unique, exceptionally multifaceted and unparalleled whole. The rhythm and breath in Saisio's novels often consists of a narrative built on a short paragraph and of a movement between the interior and the exterior, the observed and the experienced. The reader is pulled onto the scene, into the shoes of the speaker and their observations and memories, in constant movement. When the text draws its breath space is made for the reader's own experience. [...]

Saisio's autofictional trilogy – The Lowest Common Multiple (1998), The Backlight (2000), and The Red Book of Farewells (2003) – set the bar for autofiction already in a time, where no one spoke of autofiction yet. Now, a quarter of a century later, the trilogy is a part of world literature. In her most recent works, Passion (2021) and Suliko (2024) Saisio does something, that she's done many times before – that is to say, she does something she's never done before. Passion runs through history and centuries; it is a great European chronicle and a great adventure, whose mystery is man. In Suliko the protagonist is for the first time a real historical character. In these books a leitmotif that runs through Saisio's production is brought to the fore: the investigation of what is the essence of the human life and the soul. Many of Saisio's works have renewed and challenged the Finnish literary scene at the time of their publishing. Today they are a living whole, that has lasted time and that still speaks to new readers and new generations. This is the definition of a classic".

In Finland, Saisio's production is published by Siltala.

Warmest congratulations to the author!

Author Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Vartio Award for her life’s work and her authorship as a whole. Pirkko Saisio has been awarded the Vartio Award for her authorship and life’s work. The jury have highlighted that Saisio is being awarded for her innovative production, which has renewed th...

23/01/2025

Wonderful news for our children’s list: the Vietnamese rights to The Mythicals series by Miila Westin and Radio Popov by Anja Portin have been sold to Kim D**g in a three-book deal.

The Mythicals series is a graphic novel series that beautifully blends together Finnish mythology, adventure, and stunning illustrations. In Endless Winter (Mythicals #1) we follow little Eevi, who is mourning the loss of her grandfather while snow continues to fall, even though it’s June. One day, after receiving a curious necklace from her grandmother, Eevi starts to see forest creatures, like Otso the gnome and the crop elves, whose existence she ignored. They know why winter seems to be endless, and have a plan to save spring that will lead them all the way to the Underworld. It’s their chance to save the spring, but is it also Eevi’s chance to bring Grandpa back?

In A Dangerous Dream (Mythicals #2) Eevi is lonely: after their successful adventure, none of her friends has been in touch, and no one believed her when she explained what happened. Then, one night Otso comes knocking at her window and asking for her help. His sister is sick, and Eevi’s necklace could be the key to saving her, so she goes along. But why does Eevi keep having scary dreams? And are they really just dreams?

Radio Popov by Anja Portin is one of the most successful children’s books of the last years: it won the Finlandia Junior upon its release, and has already travelled to 25 language territories. Radio Popov follows Alfred, a nine-year-old boy who lives virtually alone. His mother is not in the picture and his father is constantly busy with work and business trips. His unhappy sighs are the beginning of a wonderful adventure that will lead Alfred to a new family, and to saving more forgotten children. Alfred’s story is moving, and touches on social issues, but also contains joy, friendship, and a happy ending. The story, where children are left to their own devices with their problems in the face of absent or unhelpful adults is reminiscent of literary classics like the works of Astrid Lindgren and Roald Dahl.

Kim D**g is the leading publishing house in Vietnam and the largest publishing house for children’s literature, boasting over 1000 titles per year.

All three titles are published in Finland by Kustantamo S&S.

Warm congratulations to the authors and the publishers!

The Mythicals series by Milla Westin and international bestseller Radio Popov by Anja Portin are now travelling to Vietnam, where they will be published by Kim D**g. Wonderful news for our children’s list: the Vietnamese rights to The Mythicals series by Miila Westin and Radio Popov by Anja Portin...

22/01/2025

Storytel has published its list of nominees for the Storytel Awards, and we love to see several HLA titles making the list: Wept Another by Merja Mäki, Christmas at the Falke Castle, one of the three novellas in Christmas at the Cotton Mill by Ann-Christin Antell, and Penelope and the Curious Clothing Commotion by Saara Kekäläinen & Reetta Niemensivu have been nominated in the categories of literary fiction, romance, and children’s literature.

Storytel Awards are given to books in the categories of literary fiction, crime and thriller, romance and feel-good, nonfiction and children’s literature on a yearly basis. The winners are chosen among the nominees by the users’ vote and by a professional jury, and will be announced on March 13th at the Storytel Awards Gala.

Wept Another follows Larja, a young woman from Eastern Karelia. It is 1942, and peace has momentarily descended on this bit of territory recently reclaimed from the Soviets by Finnish troops. Larja has been studying at a teacher training camp and upon her return to her home village she has to come to terms with the fact that nothing is as it was. Her grandmother Matja, the village’s most-respected professional lamenter, is deathly ill, and her little sister Pola carries a secret deep within her heart. After a Finnish man steps into her life, Larja finds herself again torn between two different worlds. Wept Another is the story of a young woman who has grown up between two cultures on the border of two countries. It is a tale of roots and the ties that bind us, but above all, of the choices that you must make in life.

Christmas at the Cotton Mill is a festive collection of short stories set in the same fictional world as the successful Cotton Mill trilogy, which follows three generations of the Barker family throughout the decades. Christmas at the Cotton Mill follows each of the three generations giving readers new insight into their family life, Christmas traditions, and backstory. In Christmas at the Falke Castle it is 1939 and Paula Falke (née Barker) is charged with planning Christmas for the whole family and the workers of the factory while her husband is fighting at the front. A happy ending seems impossible, but hope springs everlasting and the Falke family is in for a joyful Christmas after all.

Both titles are published in FInland by Gummerus Kustannus.

In Penelope and the Curious Clothing Commotion Penelope is learning to get dressed by herself, but she has a sneaking suspicion that the clothes have it in for her. If she does not watch out, the knotted tights will bunch her in as well. Is there a gnome living in their house, one who nibbles a tissue sample off every sock and eats a sock from each pair? What if Penelope gets lost inside her clothes and pops out of a sleeve and into the wrong story? Or accidentally puts on Dad’s shirt and has to shave and go to work every morning?

In Finland, the Penelope series is published by TAMMI.

Congratulations to all nominees, and fingers crossed!❤

Penelope and the Curious Clothing Commotion by Saara Kekäläinen and Reetta Niemensivu, Wept Another by Merja Mäki, and Christmas at the Falke Castle by Ann-Christin Antell are running for the Storytel Awards. Storytel has published its list of nominees for the Storytel Awards, and we love to see ...

20/01/2025

The Lit-Quest Europe project continues for the second year, and a new call for literary professionals and the Residence Program of 2025 is open.

The Literary Professionals Residence Program is a part of the Lit-Quest Europe project, which is a cooperative initiative involving Publishing House Goga (Slo), Sandorf (Cro), and Helsinki Literary Agency (Fi). The Lit-Quest Europe project receives support from the EU Creative Europe program.

The Literary Professionals Residence Program for 2025 is open to welcome literary agents, editors and other literary professionals involved in promotion of authors and foreign rights from all eligible countries within the EACEA program:

EU Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

Non-EU Countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

The program particularly emphasizes literary professionals who possess extensive experience in their field, are accustomed to delivering lectures, and are proficient in the English language. We aim to enable the participation of literary professionals of all ages and genders, with a common criterion: their knowledge will have a meaningful impact on the countries of their residence.

For the year 2025, the call for applications is open for 9 literary professionals. Each residency will have a duration of 5 days, scheduled between June 1st and November 30th, 2025.

Number of Residencies:
– Goga Publishing (Slovenia – Novo mesto): 3 residencies

– Sandorf (Croatia – Zagreb): 3 residencies

– Helsinki Literary Agency (Finland – Helsinki): 3 residencies

The fellowship for literary professionals will include:

-A 5-night stay in an apartment

– Travel costs (up to 500 EUR)

-Accommodation costs (up to 150 EUR per night)

-Subsistence costs (50 EUR per person)

-Selected literary professionals will be required to complete a questionnaire
provided by literary agents who are also part of this project.

-Lectures will be recorded and disseminated on the project page.

-All literary professionals will have the opportunity to meet local literary
professionals of the host country and other individuals from the
publishing field.

All application materials should be submitted in English. The
application deadline is February 15th, 2025. The selection will be
conducted by the Board of the Lit-Quest Europe Project.

For additional questions regarding the call, please contact us via email: lit-quest@goga.si.

Applicants will be notified of the jury’s decision via email by Friday, March
7th, 2025.

The Lit-Quest Europe project continues for the second year, and a new call for literary professionals and the Residence Program of 2025 is open. The Literary Professionals Residence Program is a part of the Lit-Quest Europe project, which is a cooperative initiative involving Publishing House Goga....