Johanna Sinisalo

[Stewart]

Johanna Sinisalo (born 1958) is a Finnish science fiction and fantasy writer. She studied comparative literature and drama, amongst other subjects, at the University of Tampere. Professionally she worked in the advertising business, rising to the level of marketing designer.

An important figure in the the burgeoning Finnish science fiction scene in the late 1980s and early '90s (winning a rare back-to-back collection of Atorox prizes for short fiction in the genre), she was also the first to make a breakthrough by bursting the genre barriers.

Sinisalo was awarded the Finlandia Prize for literature in 2000 for her first novel, Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (translated as Not before sundown in 2003 and again as Troll — A Love Story in 2004 for the American market). The novel has been translated to several languages. Not Before Sundown was awarded The James Tiptree Jr. award in 2004. Movie rights were acquired by Carter Smith in 2006

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (2000) [Eng: Not Before Sundown or Troll: A Love Story]
• Sankarit (2003)
• Kädettömät kuninkaat ja muita häiritseviä tarinoita ( 2005) [short stories]
• Lasisilmä (2006)

[Stewart]

With current topics being Finnish Literature and ye olde fantasy and Sci-i debate, I thought I'd mix the two together and mention Johanna Sinisalo. The novel has been in my radar for a few months now, especially after laughing at the UK cover, published by Peter Owen, which features one of those old troll dolls standing in a forest.

[Eric]

Johanna Sinisalo is another of the authors I've come across in what I slightly pompously call my Finnish revival. So I'm glad Stewart brought her up.

Where I first came across her name was not as an author in her own right, but as the editor of the Dedalus book, The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy. It includes work by Aino Kallas, Mika Waltari, Arto Paasilinna, Bo Carpelan, Pentti Holappa, and Leena Krohn as well as contributions by the rising stars of Finnish fiction. The translator of all the works included is David Hackston:

Amazon.co.uk: The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy (Dedalus Literary Fantasy Anthologies): Johanna Sinisalo, David Hackston: Books



Dedalus web page with reviews at:

Dedalus Books Catalogue - The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy

The cover illustration is a detail from one of a series of small paintings by the Finnish painter Hugo Simberg (1873-1917):

Hugo Simberg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As regards Sinisalo's being typecast as a sci-fi writer, I don't think she minds. She appears to have found her niche:

Johanna Sinisalo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But the Finnish Wikipedia entry does not accentuate the sci-fi angle as much as the one in English:

Johanna Sinisalo ? Wikipedia

Brief English information on her on the website of her publisher TEOS, Helsinki, plus details of her latest novels:

Kustannusosakeyhtiö TEOS

In September 2008, Sinisalo will publish her latest novel Linnuaivot (Birdbrain), which is a thriller and involves a trip to Australia and New Zealand.

[Bjorn]

Not Before Sundown is a gem of a novel, IMO, and does a great job of weaving old folk tales into a modern setting. I haven't read anything else of hers, though.

[Eric]

Bjorn and Stewart, has Not Before Sundown been reviewed anywhere in the mainstream British or American press, and who is the translator? I'm usually good at Googling, but can't find anything.

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Eric

Bjorn and Stewart, has Not Before Sundown been reviewed anywhere in the mainstream British or American press

It came out five years back, and I couldn't see anything, except a review in something called Vector Magazine, the Critical Journal of the British Science Fiction Association. But then I checked on the Complete Review, found their review of the book, which has the review summaries section, linking to the likes of the Guardian, USA Today, and Washington Post.

who is the translator?

The Peter Owen page for the book says, translated from the Finnish by Herbert Lomas.

[Eric]

Thanks, Stoo. I should have checked the Complete Review. They usually have something. British reviews interest me most.

So there are seven lines in the Guardian where David Jays' review more or less dismisses the book as mumbo-mythology.

And I couldn't even find the whole of Murrough O'Brien's review in the Independent, not least as the Complete Review link doesn't work. But judging by the Finnish review of the review at the link below, O'Brien is a good deal more positive.

For those of you who happen to read Finnish, the embassy cultural people summarise British views on Tove Jansson and Johanna Sinisalo's books in English translation at:

http://www.finland.or.jp/article.asp?intNWSAID=16208&LAN=FI&

This was back in July 2003. The Finnish Embassy in London organised a launch of the translation in May of that year. But it looks from the internet that as far as Britain is concerned, Not Before Sundown has sunk without trace. I fear that the mention of a troll has frightened readers away.

[It also says there that Ali Smith reviewed the Jansson in the Guardian. I'll find out more and post the names of reviewers and newspapers on the Tove Jansson thread.]

I see that the translator of the Sinisalo is Herbert Lomas. I have this fanatic thing about always mentioning the translator, as I hope also to get mentioned myself when people write three-page reviews, in which they often say, in one sentence that "the translation reads smoothly", although they can't read the original. When you translate 300 pages, you get pretty pissed off when you are dismissed as a skivvy. Hence my mention (for the second time now) of Herbert Lomas.

[Liam]

I happened to read Troll: A Love Story a couple of summers ago and couldn't remember when I last felt so enthralled by a book. Her ingenuity is amazing. I've been tirelessly recommending this novel to everyone I know.

I've read somewhere that she's written another (heretofore untranslated) book utilizing the legends from the Finnish national epic The Kalevala--does anyone know if it will be forthcoming any time soon? I'd be among its first purchasers, once it hit the shelves.

[Eric]

As far as I can see, the Kalevala book by Johanna Sinisalo is Sankarit (i.e. "heroes") where she blends the stories from the Kalevala with aspects of contemporary Finland. See review:

Dragon/kolibri: Sankarit by Johanna Sinisalo

From another review in Finnish, I can see that:

Kirja tuo Kalevalan sankarit nyky-Suomeen. Aihe on mielenkiintoinen ja toimiva. Kirjan päähenkilö, rocktähti Rex on Väinämöis-hahmo, jonka toverina häärii rumpali Ile Aerosmith, arkisemmalta nimeltään Seppo Ilmarinen. Muissa osissa nähdään Joukahaista, Lemminkäistä, Kullervoa, Ainoa, Pohjolan emäntää... Monet Kalevalasta tutut kohtaukset toistetaan hieman eri muodossa ja onpa kirjassa Sampokin jahdattavaksi.

i.e.

The book brings Kalevala heroes to present-day Finland. The subject-matter is interesting and effective. The book's protagonist, the rock star Rex, is the Väinämöinen figure, whose mate is the hairy [?] drummer Ile Aerosmith, Seppo Ilmarinen in everyday life. In other parts Joukahainen, Lemminkänen, Kullervo, Aino, the Mother of the North all turn up...A number of figures from the Kalevala appear is slightly modified guise and even Sampo becomes prey [not sure about this] in the book.

The immediate problem that strikes me for the foreign reader is that to fully appreciate the spoof, you've got to know the original characters from the Kalevala in order to compare and contrast them with their new guises. In other words, if you don't at least know the story of the Kalevala, your appreciation of this text will be so much the poorer. It's like turning The Cantebury Tales into 21st century stories - they're only witty if you know something of Chaucer's book.

[StellaPolaris]

A new novel by Johanna Sinisalo was published last year. It's called Linnunaivot (Bird's brains) and it's set in Tasmania.

[Eric]

Thanks, Northern Star from Esbo. The title of Sinisalo's new novel, in English, presents a problem. As I do not know precisely what the book is about, I can't tell whether it would be more apt to call it "Birdbrain", which is the mocking name for a flighty and stupid person in English, or, as you called it "Bird's Brains", which does not have any such humorous and negative connotations. Maybe you know more about this novel.

I wonder if Johanna is any relation to Taisto...

[StellaPolaris]

I think you could translate it either way. There are intelligent birds and not so bright people in the book.

[Eric]

Has it been translated into Swedish yet? As you will have realised by my use of the word "Esbo", I read Swedish far more easily than Finnish.

[Eric]

According to various sources, including the Finnish daily "Helsingin Sanomat", Johanna Sinisalo has been nominated for the U.S. Nebula Award for what is described as the 'novelette' "Baby Doll". See:

Johanna Sinisalo nominated for Nebula Award! | Beyond the Iron Sky

Does anyone know what, in competition and publishing terms, the difference is between a 'novelette' and a 'novella'?

[StellaPolaris]

In Nebula competition novelette is defined as having 7500-17500 words and novella has 17500-40000 words. I really have no clue how much that is, because in Finland length of literary work is usually measured in pages.

And no, Linnunaivot has not yet been translated to Swedish.