Dutch rights to Eeva Kilpi’s autobiographical novels INTERIM PEACE – TIME OF LONGING (Välirauha, ikävöinnin aika, WSOY 1990), and THE TIME OF THE CONTINUATION WAR (Jatkosodan aika, WSOY 1993) were recently acquired by Wilde aardbeien. The publisher previously released the first part in Kilpi’s autobiographical trilogy The Time of the Winter War (WSOY 1989). Frank Hendriks and Maria Falenius will translate the novels for publication in 2024 and 2025.
Kilpi was born in 1928 in Finnish Karelia, that Finland had to cede to the Soviet Union after the Winter War. In the trilogy, Kilpi writes about the painful experience of being a wartime evacuee. The novels are topical, offering a voice for those who had to flee from war, lose their homes, their loved ones and their language and culture. The works also provide tools with which to discuss silenced feelings and experiences.
Eeva Kilpi has been awarded Finland’s State Prize for Literature four times and the Aleksis Kivi Prize for her lifetime literary achievements in 2017. In Finland, Kilpi is considered a national treasure, a courageous trailblazer and a feminist icon. Her work has been translated into twenty languages.