Finlandia Junior to Maria Turtschaninoff

This year’s Finlandia Junior award for best children’s or YA book was given to Maria Turtschaninoff for her fantasy novel Maresi: Punaisen luostarin kronikoita. Maresi tells the story of a young girl who faces a big adventure defending her right to make her own decisions in a world where men are trying to control the knowledge possessed by women.

The winner was decided this year by writer and director Johanna Vuoksenmaa who congratulated the novel on not following the gender conventions of typical fantasy literature. She also commended the indigenous and imaginative world Turtschaninoff has built, and said the book captures its reader and won’t let go easily. The prize is given by the Finnish Book Foundation and is worth 30,000 €.

Congratulations!

(PS If anybody in the publishing world is interested, there is an English manuscript of the book available from the Elina Ahlback Literary Agency in December.)

Update Dec 4: The German rights to Maresi have been sold to Random House Heyne, so the book will eventually be available in German as well.

Update Dec 16: The World English rights to Maresi and its two upcoming sequels have been acquired by Pushkin Press. The rights have also been sold for publication in Denmark, Romania, and Sweden.