Emmi Elina Itäranta (born 1976) is a Finnish novelist. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

'' Memory of Water'' was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

in 2014.

Biography

Itäranta holds a MA in Drama from the

University of Tampere The University of Tampere (UTA) ( fi, Tampereen yliopisto (Tay), ) was a public university in Tampere, Finland that was merged with Tampere University of Technology to create the new Tampere University on 1 January 2019. The university offered un ...

, and worked as a columnist, theatre critic, script writer and press officer after graduation. In 2007 she enrolled in the postgraduate program of

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

, where she began writing her debut novel as a part of her Creative Writing course work. Working simultaneously in English and her native Finnish, Itäranta completed both manuscripts, and in 2011 the Finnish version won the Fantasy and Sci-Fi Literary Fiction contest organised by the Finnish publishing house

Teos Teos ( grc, Τέως) or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was ...

. The novel was published by Teos in 2012 under the name '' Teemestarin kirja'' (lit. "The Tea Master's Book"). The book won the

Kalevi Jäntti Award Kalevi may refer to * Kalevi (mythology), an ancient Finnish and Estonian ruler, known from the Finnish epic Kalevala and Estonian epic Kalevipoeg. * Kalevi, Estonia Kalevi is a village in Rapla Parish, Rapla County in northwestern Estonia ...

in 2012, and the Nuori Aleksis Award in 2013. It was also shortlisted for the 2013

Tähtivaeltaja Award Tähtivaeltaja Award is an annual prize by Helsingin science fiction seura ry for the best science fiction book released in Finnish. The winners 2016 Margaret Atwood: '' Uusi maa'' (MaddAddam, Otava) Shortlisted books: * Emmi Itäranta: ...

. The English version of the book, '' Memory of Water'', was published by

in 2014 in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. It has been nominated for the 2014

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

, as well as the Golden Tentacle Award and the

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

. Translation rights of the book have been sold to 21 territories to date, and it has already been published in Arabic, Czech, Danish, Estonian, French, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish. The Italian version of the book, ''La Memoria dell'Acqua'', was published by Frassinelli and was among the three final nominees for the Premio Salerno Libro d'Europa in 2016. Emmi Itäranta's second novel was published in October 2015 in Finnish, as '' Kudottujen kujien kaupunki''. It too was nominated for the 2016

, and was one of the novels to receive the City of Tampere Literary Award. The English language version was published in 2016, under the name ''The City of Woven Streets'' in the UK, and as ''The Weaver'' in the US and Canada. Emmi Itäranta lives in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, United Kingdom.

References

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External links

*
Emmi Itäranta
at the Elina Ahlback Agency website
Excerpt of Memory of Water
at HarperVoyager Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Itaranta, Emmi Living people 1976 births Finnish writers Finnish expatriates in the United Kingdom Finnish women writers