Read and discuss literature with our Nordic Book Club Online! On July 16, translator Lola Rogers will be present as a special guest for a discussion of Finnish author Juhani Karila’s English-language debut Fishing for the Little Pike, a genre-defying tale of a young woman’s pilgrimage to her home in Lapland. *The program will begin with a short discussion with Lola Rogers on the book and her translation, followed by a Q&A with Nordic Book Club attendees.*
When Elina makes her annual summer trip to her remote family farm in Lapland, she has an important mission: catch the pike in their local pond in three days, or she and the love of her life will die. Despite her usual success, this year’s trip grows difficult when deadly supernatural creatures intervene, and a murder detective arrives. Can Elina catch the pike and end the curse that began when a youthful love affair turned sour? Will Sergeant Janatuinen make it back to civilization in one piece? And why is Lapland in summer so weird?
Fishing for the Little Pike is an audacious, satisfying blend of fantasy, folk tale, and nature writing.
“Karila keeps things fanciful and funny even as the story’s folklore elements descend into the dark and disturbing, thanks to his exuberant embrace of the godforsaken landscape and its inhabitants. This twisted love letter to the rural region leaves a lasting impression.”— Publishers Weekly
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juhani Karila (b. 1985) is an award-winning author and journalist with a master’s in communication theory. In 2010, Karila won the J.H. Erkko Award, and his first collection of short stories Gorilla (2013), was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Prize. His second collection, The Death of the Apple Crocodile (2016), is a series of connected stories about the collision of large and small worlds. Karila’s debut novel Fishing for the Little Pike (2019) won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Tähtifantasia Prize, and the Jarkko Laine Prize. He currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.