Beasts of the Sea has been nominated for the Premio Strega Europeo in Italy, the most prestigious literary award in the country.
Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen continues to enchant the international literary scene: the Italian edition, in translation by Nicola Rainò and out with Neri Pozza, is now nominated for the Premio Strega Europeo in Italy.
The Strega Prize, established in 1947, is the most prominent literary award in Italy, and is awarded on a yearly basis by the Maria and Goffredo Bellonci Foundation. The Premio Strega Europeo (lit. “European Strega Prize”) established in 2014, is the international equivalent of the Strega Prize and is awarded on a yearly basis to a foreign work translated into Italian.
The winner is picked from a selection of five nominees, and will be announced at the Salone del Libro Book Fair in Turin this May. This year’s other nominees are: The Discovery of Holland by Jan Brokken, Muna, or Half a Life by Terézia Mora, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, and Theodoros by Mircea Cărtărescu.
Previous nominees and winners include Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux, International Booker Prize laureates David Diop and Georgi Gospodinov, and more. Iida Turpeinen is the first Finnish author to receive a nomination since Rosa Liksom with her Compartment Number 6.
(Photo: Susanna Kekkonen)
Beasts of the Sea is a literary achievement and a breathtaking adventure through three centuries. Approaching natural diversity through individual destinies, it’s a story of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what humankind in its ignorance has destroyed. Steller’s sea cow, a sirenian lost to extinction centuries ago, is revived on the pages and is the red thread that ties together the individual fates of a group of people throughout the centuries. The novel is the winner of the Book Beat Newcomer Award, The Thank You for the Book Award, Finland’s booksellers’ prize, the best debut award, the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize, the Storytel award. Beasts of the Sea was also a nominee for Finland’s biggest literary award, the Finlandia Prize, as well as for the Torch-bearer Prize. Its international breakthrough has been acknowledged by the Bookseller.
In Finland, Beasts of the Sea is published by Kustantamo S&S, part of Schildts & Söderströms and it has already sold over 50.000 copies in Finland alone. Loved by readers and critics alike, Beasts of the Sea has also been crowned the Best Book of the Century in a Readers’ Selection list published by the largest Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat. The foreign rights have been sold for 28 language areas so far.
Iida Turpeinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based literary scholar currently writing a dissertation on the intersection of the natural sciences and literature. As an author, she is intrigued by the literary potentials of scientific research and by the offbeat anecdotes and meanderings from the history of science.
Warmest congratulations to the author and the publishers, and fingers crossed!
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