The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo

The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo

In today’s episode of The Nordic Reader, we are joined by translator Lola Rogers to discuss her translation of Johanna Sinisalo’s novel, The Core of the Sun. Originally published in Finnish in 2013, Lola’s English translation was published by Grove Atlantic in 2016.  Lola is an award-winning Finnish to English literary translator. She has translated 21 novels, as well as short stories, comics, poems, children’s literature, nonfiction and essays. Some of the most well-known titles that she has translated include Fishing for the Little Pike/Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila, When the Doves disappeared and Purge, by Sofi Oksanen, The Healer by Antti Tuomainen, The Colonel’s Wife by Rosa Liksom and today’s book, The Core of the Sun, by Johanna Sinisalo.  Johanna Sinisalo is one of Finland’s most prominent contemporary writers. The Core of the Sun is set in an alternate, dystopian reality, a Finnish “eusistocracy”. Public health and social stability are the only goals, and to this end, gender relations have been re-codified. Women have been selectively bred to be desirable elois, beautiful and uneducated, meant for homemaking and childrearing, or are shunned as morlocks. There is a strict prohibition on all substances - alcohol, drugs, and most importantly, chilli. The novel’s main character is Vera. A “capso” - a capsaicin addict - and a morlock pretending to be an eloi woman, Vera is hiding from the all-powerful Authority. But when Vera's younger sister Mira disappears, Vera is desperate to find out what happened to her. As she battles to discover the truth, Vera becomes increasingly involved in the illicit chilli trade, and must navigate her own relationships and future in this dystopian society.  Find more information about Lola's work here: https://feltcooperative.org/lola-rogers-cv/ [https://feltcooperative.org/lola-rogers-cv/] Books mentioned:  The Core of the Sun - Johanna Sinisalo Troll: A Love Story - Johanna Sinisalo Blood of Angels - Johanna Sinisalo Summer Fishing in Lapland/Fishing for the Little Pike - Juhani Karila On the Calculation of Volume - Solvej Balle  The Wax Child - Olga Ravn  The Proof of My Innocence - Jonathan Coe Atonement - Ian McEwan The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood 1984 - George Orwell Brave New World - Aldous Huxley  The Hunger Games - Susanne Collins The Maze Runner - James Dashner  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Phillip K Dick Next Up: The Letter Carrier - Francesca Giannone Guest: Lola Rogers Producer and Host: Mia Todd Co-host: Francis Neale Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd

Land of Snow and Ashes by Petra Rautiainen

In today’s episode of The Nordic Reader, we chat to author Petra Rautiainen about her debut novel, Land of Snow and Ashes. The novel is translated by David Hackston. Published in 2020, Land of Snow and Ashes won the Savonia Prize, and was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature prize and the Lapland Literature Prize. The story unfolds in a dual timeline, in the years during and shortly after World War 2. In 1944, Väinö Remes arrives at a Nazi prison camp in Northern Finland. Set to work as a translator, Remes quickly gets swept up in the brutality of the camp, and the strange events that occur in the middle of the night. Some years later, in 1947, photographer and journalist Inkari Lindqvist arrives in Enontekiö, in Lapland. She is searching for her husband, who disappeared during the war. Northern Finland has been decimated by the German’s scorched earth policy, and the community is slowly starting to rebuild. But the new national Finnish identity clashes with Sami life and culture, and as Inkari starts her investigation, she exposes a great deal more than she was initially expecting... This novel pulls back the curtain on a hidden and seldom talked about period of Finnish history. It is one of the first novels to talk about the Nazi camps in Finland, and tackles the eugenics projects that took place there, and the impacts of Finnish nationalism on the Sami people in the North of the country. Books Mentioned: Land of Snow and Ashes - Petra Rautiainen Memory of Ocean - Petra Rautiainen Tree Killers - Petra Rautiainen The Vegetarian - Han Kang Is a River Alive? - Robert McFarlane The Old Ways - Robert McFarlane Landmarks - Robert McFarlane Underland - Robert McFarlane On the Calculation of Volume - Solvej Balle Guest: Petra Rautiainen Producer and Host: Mia Todd Co-host: Francis Neale Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd

New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani

On the corner of Nervanderinkatu and Dagmarinkatu in central Helsinki, you’ll find the Arkadia International Bookshop [https://arkadiabookshop.fi/]. As you enter the shop, you will find yourself in a large, cosy room, with couches, a piano, and floor to ceiling bookshelves on every wall. The store sells second hand books, mostly in English, both fiction and non-fiction.  But if you explore, you will enter a maze, with room after room of books in multiple languages, including Swedish, Finnish, French, Spanish, German, Russian, and Hungarian. But perhaps the most iconic feature is the store's owner, Ian Bourgeot.  In today’s episode of The Nordic Reader, we are joined by Ian to discuss Diego Marani’s novel, New Finnish Grammar.   Published by Daedalus books and translated into English by Judith Landry, New Finnish Grammar was shortlisted for the 2012 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the 2012 Best Translated Book Award.  Set during World War II, the novel follows a young man who wakes up in a doctor’s office in Trieste having suffered a catastrophic head injury. He cannot remember anything. The attending doctor, Friari, is a Finn living in Germany whose family had fled their homeland following its civil war.   Finding a Finnish name sewn into the young man’s jacket, Dr Friari assumes he is Finnish. As he recovers, Friari begins to teach him Finnish, hoping that his memories will return with the language. Soon Friari arranges for the young man to travel to Helsinki.  There he befriends the eccentric priest Olaf Koskela, and the lovely nurse Ilma, as he continues to search for his place in the world.  Books Mentioned: New Finnish Grammar - Diego Marani Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann Journey into Freedom - Klaus Mann The Retrospective - AB Yehoshua  Naufrage/Small Boat - Vincent Delecroix  Apeirogon - Colum McCann  Tokyo Express - Seichō Matsumoto Kaputt - Curzio Malaparte  Guest: Ian Bourgeot Producer and Host: Mia Todd Co-host: Francis Neale Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd

The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli

In today’s episode of The Nordic Reader we are joined by Daniel Seton to discuss Giuliano da Empoli’s novel, The Wizard of the Kremlin. The Editorial Director at Pushkin Press, Daniel acquired and published the English translation in the UK. Originally published in French, The Wizard of the Kremlin is translated by Willard Wood.  The Wizard of the Kremlin is a fictionalised account inspired by a real person, one of Vladimir Putin’s most important advisors who is thought to be responsible for much of the strategy behind Putin’s rise to power in Russia.  In da Empoli’s novel, the unnamed narrator - a student doing some research on Yevgeny Zamyatin - is travelling in Moscow when he is invited to meet the enigmatic Vadim Baranov. Putin’s right hand man and head of propaganda, Baranov is a master of theatre and performance. He knows exactly how to spin a story, how to control the narrative, and how to build an empire. He has recently retired and retreated from the public eye. And while he scoffs at the idea of writing his memoirs, Baranov shares his story with the narrator. Starting in Soviet era Russia, Baranov draws back the curtain on the truth of power and democracy, the role of technology and propaganda in Vladimir Putin’s rise to power, and the events and decisions that established Russian politics as we know them today. Giuliano da Empoli is an Italian-Swiss political scientist, who was once a senior advisor to the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and is now a professor at Sciences Po in Paris. The book has been translated into 36 languages, and has a been made into a film which premiered at the 2025 Venice film festival.  Books Mentioned:  The Wizard of the Kremlin - Giuliano da Empoli The Hour of the Predator - Giuliano da Empoli At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop Strange Houses - Uketsu Our Wild Garden - Daniel Seton, illustrated by Pieter Fannes Wilding - Isabella Tree The Wasp Factory - Ian Banks  The Mask of Dimitrios - Eric Ambler Sovietistan - Erika Fatland  Nothing to See Here - Kevin Wilson Now Is Not the Time to Panic - Kevin Wilson Guest: Daniel Seton Producer and Host: Mia Todd Co-host: Francis Neale  Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd

Summer Fishing in Lapland by Juhani Karila

In this first episode of The Nordic Reader, we are joined by author Juhani Karila to discuss his novel Summer Fishing in Lapland (is more dangerous than you think). The book is translated into English by Lola Rogers.  Originally published in Finnish in 2019, the novel has now been translated into more than 20 languages. It is published by Pushkin Press in the UK and by Restless Books in the US, where it appears under the title Fishing for the Little Pike (is more dangerous than you think).  In the novel we follow Elina, a young Finnish woman who is cursed. Every summer she returns to her childhood home in Lapland, where she must catch the pike that lives in a nearby pond – or she will die! But this year Elina’s attempt doesn’t quite go to plan. She must race against the clock to defeat the curse, while being followed by a host of strange mythical creatures, and a homicide detective who suspects her of murder.  Join us as we talk about the quirky, magical world of Juhani’s novel, humour and heartbreak in Lapland, and Juhani’s experience with translation.  Books Mentioned:  Summer Fishing in Lapland (is more dangerous than you think)/Fishing for the Little Pike (is more dangerous than you think) by Juhani Karila The Shining by Stephen King  Piranesi by Susanna Clarke  The End of Drum Time by Hanna Pylväinen The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway  Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen Guest: Juhani Karila Producer and Host: Mia Todd  Co-host: Francis Neale Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd