Tommi Kinnunen’s DEFIANCE nominated for the Finlandia Prize

Tommi Kinnunen’s historical fiction novel Defiance (WSOY, 2020) has been nominated for Finland’s most prestigious literary award, the Finlandia Prize!

In the past few days Tommi has scooped the Minna Canth Prize for services to literature and journalism, the Suomalainen Kirjakauppa booksellers’ ‘Book of the Year Award’, and now the Finlandia Prize for Fiction, the finalist of which will be announced on 25 November.

This is what the panel had to say about Defiance: “Some march from war as heroes, others are stripped of their dignity. This novel, set in the aftermath of the Second World War, offers another depiction of the hopeless reconstruction period in Finland, in which hopes and dreams have collapsed. Tommi Kinnunen’s different kind of journey novel will remain in readers’ minds for a long time, leaving them with an affecting afterimage.”⠀

Congratulations, Tommi!