15 syyskuuta 2019

Finland is Cool, Finland is Happy!


Finland is cool, Finland is happy: We are a small country of only 5,5 million inhabitants. Yet we have the BEST public library in the world - OODI and we are again the HAPPIEST nation in the world! Maybe books and happiness are related? Is reading good literature one factor in our happiness?

Talking about the import and export of literature. Finland 'imports' a lot of international literature. We have excellent translators who bring world literature to Finnish readers. Good literature opens doors to different cultures and countries worldwide. It seems that in the course of last twelve months I have red a bit more than 50 books from all over the world, some translated into Finnish, some in the original language. SEE my read in 2019 list. The writers come from:

Albania, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy. Ireland, 
Japan, Norway, Nicaragua, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, South-Africa, Spain, Sweden, 
The Soviet Union, The US, Turkey, UK & Venezuela.

Finland was Guest of Honor at Frankfurt Book Fair (2014). That status ended up in a considerable increase in literature rights sold abroad. FILI (Finnish Literature Exchange) is an organisation that promotes the export of literature from Finland by facilitating professional contacts and serving as a “home base” for translators of Finnish literature. Now they have started a new project called FINNLAND. COOL. HAPPY.

Look at this interesting link showing statistics worldwide of translated Finnish literature. The ten top countries are Germany - 1268, Estonia - 855, Sweden - 853, Denmark - 531, Norway - 518, France - 504, Hungary - 390, Poland - 340 and Spain - 302 with books. Followed later on the list by UK with 288 and The United States with 260 books.



Pajtim Statovci (b. 1990) is one of Finland's rising new literature stars. His first novel, My Cat, YugoslaviaAmazon, became internationally acclaimed and was praised by The New York Times and The Guardian, among others. Statovci's second novel, The Heart of Tirana, was published in the United States in April 2019 under the name CrossingAmazon. Bolla is Statovci’s brand new third novel, here with the fantastic Finnish cover. Bolla is scheduled to be published in the English version in 1921! It is very interesting how the covers differ in different markets. The international representation of Statovci will continue to be managed by The Wylie Agency. 

Two female writers represented by The Ahlbäck Agency 
& their rights sold & the books I have read:


The Women I Think About at Night  by Mia Kankimäki (b. 1971) ****
China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, 
Netherlands, Norway, Russia, United States
An exciting and passionate non-fiction book about some of the bravest and most inspiring women throughout history: Renaissance female painters Artemisia Gentilechi, Lavinia Fontana,
Beatrice d-Este etc., Karen Blixen, Yayoi Kusama, Isabella Bird...
This book is to be blamed for me traveling to Florence in three weeks ❤︎


My Friend Natalia by Laura Lindstedt (b. 1976) ****
Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, United States
My Friend Natalia is a thrilling exploration of gender, sexuality, and power following 
an ambitious therapist and a patient with a unique psychological obsession who become 
entangled in a complicated, explosive relationship.


As a book blogger I belong to a community of nearly 200 Finnish book bloggers
We are many, considered that our Finnish market is pretty small.

I know that some of my blog friends are eager readers and
I always want to spread the joy of reading & literature!


Photo: EMMA

At EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art there is an exhibition On The Wall,
all about Michael Jackson, have not seen yet but maybe I will.

We Are The World from 1985, including Michael Jackson

20 kommenttia:

  1. Anonyymi15 syyskuuta

    Dear riitta,
    thank you for this interesting and exciting article!
    You are right, Finland is simply wonderful and wonderful varied.
    Have a nice Sunday
    moni

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Hi moni,
      I am not boasting with Finland myself: borrowed the title from the project Finnland. Cool. Happy :) But yes, every time we have some reason to boast, we do that! Yesterday Davis Cup Austria-Finland took place. Finland lost but our young Emil Ruusuvuori won Dominic Thiem, ATP rank numer 5! Quite a sensation!

      Poista
  2. Interesting post.
    I agree Finland is a wonderful country. I worked with finnish people (in the environmental field) and they are good colleagues and kind persons.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Thank you for your kind words :) we are considered honest & trustworthy people who have a lot of guts, the famous Finnish SISU!

      Poista
  3. For me books and happiness are definitely related. I'm envious of the library.

    VastaaPoista
  4. Me encantan los libros Riitta, pero últimamente los tengo un poquito abandonados. Besitos.

    VastaaPoista
  5. Always a great song and: I must search for these books in German!
    Maybe, you have more time to read books in the cold dark nights?
    Germans are not very lucky...our mood becomes more and more agggressive in last time, sigh!
    Send you autumn light for a good new week

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. Today's world is not an easy place Mascha. Hope the atmosphere gets better there!

      Poista
  6. Hello, Ritta! What a wonderful post on Finland, the library is amazing. The books sound great. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your day, wishing you a great new week ahead!

    VastaaPoista
  7. ...'We are the world' amen! All this American first coming from the White House is making me sick. Thanks Riitta for sharing this inspirational post. Let's hope that we can make this a better day! Thanks again.

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. I'm afraid that you shall hear that for many years to come Tom (:

      Poista
  8. I think we all agree that Finland is a wonderful place to live. You know I love to read so this is all so interesting about the books being translated. And the trip you have planned sounds great! Enjoy your week! Happy reading!

    VastaaPoista
    Vastaukset
    1. I can't wait for my trip! I'm so enthusistic :)

      Poista
  9. Such a wonderful post. I've never been to Finland but your post certainly is inviting! Thank you and have a wonderful week!

    VastaaPoista
  10. We Are The World! . . What a wonderful dream. And - i sure wish i could jump in my little car and visit Finland . . . of course, then i may never want to leave.

    VastaaPoista
  11. I strongly believe that a love of reading contributes to happiness. Thank you for sharing your current favorite books. We loved reading the news about Finland being the happiest country, especially since our grandson and grand-DL live there. They *are* happy! (We are almost always personally happy too, but certainly not happy with the way our country is being run right now. It is heartbreaking and embarrassing..)

    VastaaPoista
  12. A wonderful post, celebrating Finland. I've never visited, but we worked with a Finnish family in Ecuador and became good friends with them. Someday I would like to visit your country of readers and book lovers!

    VastaaPoista
  13. Riitta - congrats on Finland being the happiest country, again. As the article points out, "It is the country’s social safety net combined with personal freedom and a good work-life balance that gives it the edge." The US can claim only one of these - personal freedom - we have a long way to go! I will have to look into Pajtim Statovci and some of the other authors that you mention. Thanks as always for linking to Mosaic Monday!

    VastaaPoista

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