Winner of 2020 Petrona Award announced – a first for Finnish crime

The winner of the 2020 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year is:

LITTLE SIBERIA by Antti Tuomainen, translated from the Finnish by David Hackston and published by Orenda Books.

As well as a trophy, Antti Tuomainen receives a pass to and a guaranteed panel at CrimeFest 2022. Antti Tuomainen and David Hackston will also receive a cash prize.

The judges’ statement on LITTLE SIBERIA:

Antti Tuomainen’s LITTLE SIBERIA stood out on the shortlist for all of the judges. From its arresting opening, in which a meteorite unexpectedly lands on a speeding car, to its very human depiction of a pastor grappling with private and theological crises, this is a pitch-perfect comic crime novel with considerable depth and heart

The first Finnish crime novel to receive the Petrona Award, LITTLE SIBERIA is a particularly fitting winner for 2020 – a year in which life was turned upside down. A celebration of resilience, fortitude and simply muddling through, it is a novel for our times.

David Hackston’s fine translation captures LITTLE SIBERIA’S depictions of an icy northern Finland and its darkly comic tone, skilfully showcasing the writing of one of Scandinavia’s most versatile and original crime authors. LITTLE SIBERIA is published by Orenda Books, one of the UK’s foremost independent publishers, which consistently champions international and translated crime fiction.

Comments from the winning author, translator and publisher:

Antti Tuomainen (author):

To make a long story short, I have to make it long first. A few years ago, after publishing five very dark and very noir books, I felt there was an element within me I had to bring into my writing: humour. Before my first darkly funny book The Man Who Died was published I was very nervous. Was I making a big mistake? One of those career choices you read about in artists' biographies under the chapter title 'The Fall'? Not that anyone would write about me, as I would be forgotten, found much later in a basement room, alone, perished in the middle of a last 'humorous' sentence … Happily, I was wrong, and not for the first time. Which seems to bring us to Little Siberia. It is my eighth book and now the recipient of the prestigious Petrona Award. When I set out to write a darkly comical crime novel with a priest as main character, I knew I was taking a leap – again. Alas, here we are. I want to thank David Hackston and Karen Sullivan, both incomparable and indispensable, as without them all the jury would have had was a book in Finnish with no idea who sent it. I send my warmest thank you to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Oh, and that shorter story: after fifteen years of writing and nine books, it seems I'm finally an overnight success.

David Hackston (translator):

I'm extremely honoured to receive the Petrona Award 2020, not least because of the illustrious, formidable company on the shortlist. Many congratulations to all the authors and especially to my fellow translators – my co-conspirators in bringing Nordic writing to English-speaking readers. My thanks to the panel and a huge, heartfelt thank you to Orenda Books, without whom none of this would be possible. Of course, behind every good translation is an excellent original text, and in this respect Antti Tuomainen is the gift that keeps on giving. Kiitos, Antti; thanks for the laughs thus far. Long may it continue

Karen Sullivan (Orenda Books)

We are honoured and absolutely thrilled by the news that Little Siberia has won this prestigious award – quite possibly the only designated award for Scandinavian crime fiction in English – and it feels fitting that in such a difficult year, Antti's beautifully written, funny, philosophical and exquisitely plotted thriller has been chosen. Antti has pushed the crime genre in so many exciting directions, and I applaud the judges for making such a bold and perfect choice. It can be no easy feat to translate Finnish and yet David Hackston has once again produced an elegant, pitch-perfect translation, and we are so delighted that his work has been rewarded in this way.

The judges would also like to highly commend THE SILVER ROAD by Stina Jackson, translated from the Swedish by Susan Beard and published by Corvus (Atlantic Books).

The Petrona team would like to thank our sponsor, David Hicks, for his generous and continued support of the 2020 Petrona Award.

 

Hiding for their lives: Why I wrote The Defenceless

Kati Hiekkapelto © Ayo Onatade 2015

Today’s guest blog is by Finnish author Kati Hiekkapelto.  Kati Hiekkapelto is a bestselling author, punk singer, performance artist and special-needs teacher. She lives on an old farm on the island of Hailuoto in Northern Finland with her children and sizeable menagerie. Her debut novel The Hummingbird was shortlisted for the 2015 Petrona Award.  The Defenceless won the top Finnish crime award in 2014.  The Vuoden Johtolanka (Clue) Award is given annually to the best Finnish crime fiction novel by the Dekkariseura (Finnish Crime Society).

One of the primary issues underpinning the plot of The Defenceless is illegal – or, as I prefer to call it, undocumented – migration. ‘Illegals’ are everywhere, and they are often families with small children, moving around Europe, being sent here and there like postcards by government authorities. It is a reality that is not really evident, as we go about our everyday lives. These people are not part of the society; they cannot work, go to school, rent a flat or receive social benefits. If they become ill, they can´t even go to a doctor because they have no ID. But they exist and their ‘illegal’ underground lives, stripped of any basic rights, is actually better than returning to their home countries, where most of them would probably face death. They are hiding for their lives.

In Finland, I am involved in a number refugee causes, and on one occasion I got to know a family in just such a situation. I was writing The Hummingbird when I met a Christian family from Pakistan – a mother, father and two children. They had been in Finland for several years, living in asylum centres. The youngest child was born here and the older was attending school, where he had learned excellent Finnish. And then one day they heard that their application for asylum was declined. The police could turn up at any moment to send them back to Pakistan.

The decision to deport was based on how the Finnish Immigration Service defined the security situation in Pakistan at the time. They decided that it is a safe country – at the very same time that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was advising Finnish people travelling to Pakistan quite the opposite. They reasoned that Pakistan, and especially certain areas of it (my family was from one of these areas), was dangerous to Finnish people but not to a Christian family whose home was occupied by extreme Muslims and whose life was in danger. The father of the family was extremely distressed. He had believed that Christian Europe would understand and help his family, but they didn’t seem to care, or to realise the grave danger that would face them upon their return.

So we were hid this family for a while in Hailuoto, where I live, keeping them underground until their appeal to the higher court was completed, which would give them a legal right to stay until their case was re-examined. In the end, they were lucky. Their appeal was accepted and they were granted permission to stay permanently in Finland.

But these things rarely have a happy ending. Many people are refused, some of them for good reason, of course, but far too many because officers either have no time to research their situation properly or they have incorrect and distorted information about safety in their home countries. I call this a racist immigration policy. Finland is difficult country to get into and it is meant to be so. We simply don´t offer enough asylum. The number of immigrants in Finland is embarrassingly low compared to any other welfare country.

This is how Sammy, one of the main characters in The Defenceless, began to take shape. I wanted to imagine and describe the situation where anything, even a life sentence in prison, would be better than going back home.

I think every writer – and especially a crime writer – is interested in hidden realities, ‘sub’ worlds behind the visible, ‘normal’ daily life we occupy and see. There is so much going on under the surface of our Nordic welfare state, and the average person simply doesn’t realise it. We go to work and to school; we shop and go home to rest and hang out with our families, believing that everything is fine. It’s too easy to close our eyes and turn on the telly. Maybe this is the main reason I want to write about minorities and refugees in my crime novels. I want people to see.

You can find out more about Kati Hiekkapelto and her work on her website.  You can also follow her on Twitter @HiekkapeltoKati.  You can also find her on Facebook.

The Defenceless by Kati Hiekkapelto is out now (Orenda Books, £8.99)

When an old man is found dead on the road – seemingly run over by a Hungarian au pair – police investigator Anna Fekete is certain that there is more to the incident than meets the eye. As she begins to unravel an increasingly complex case, she’s led on a deadly trail where illegal immigration, drugs and, ultimately, murder threaten not only her beliefs, but her life. Anna’s partner Esko is entrenched in a separate but equally dangerous investigation into the activities of an immigrant gang, where deportation orders and raids cause increasing tension and result in desperate measures by gang members – and the police themselves. Then a bloody knife is found in the snow, and the two cases come together in ways that no one could have predicted. As pressure mounts, it becomes clear that having the law on their side may not be enough for Anna and Esko.

Black Noise Competition

Finnish author Pekka Hiltunen sets his thrillers in London. Black Noise is the second instalment in the Studio series which is an intelligent crime thriller pitting unlikely heroines against London's dark crime underworld ultra-violent videos of murder and torture are being uploaded to the internet. When bodies start showing up on the streets of London, it begins to seem that the videos may be real and that a gruesome, exhibitionist killer is on the loose. The news catches the attention of Mari and Lia.

Mari and Lia are two Finnish women living in London. Despite bonding over their shared expat identity, they have rather different backgrounds. While Lia is a graphic designer, Mari runs the mysterious "Studio," a private crime fighting organization that considers itself above the law. Taking matters into their own hands, they take on cases where the police have failed or are indifferent. Lia has slowly found her place in among this mysterious, morally motivated group of people who are not above employing underhand tactics to make sure that justice is served. Backed by high-tech gadgets and their team of fiercely loyal experts, the two women set about trying to stem the recent surge of violence and track down the murderer. But the stakes are high and Mari will have to risk much, even the lives of her companions, if she is to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Interested in reading Black Noise?  There are two copies of Black Noise and Cold Courage (the first book in the series) up for grabs!  To get your hands on a copy please send your name, email address and postal address to shotscomp@yahoo.co.uk. Don’t forget to put Black Noise Competition in the subject line!  Closing date is 30 October 2014.

 Best of luck!

Black Noise by Pekka Hiltunen is out on 17 October, £12.99 (Hesperus Nova)

More information about Pekka Hiltunen and his books can be found on his Facebook page.