Elina Hirvonen

Elina Hirvonen is an award-winning author of adults' and children's prose and documentary filmmaker whose works have been translated into many languages. Hirvonen’s debut novel, When I Forgot, made the front page of The New York Times Book Review, and received rave reviews from the Independent, Guardian, Financial Times and Globe and Mail.

Hirvonen has won the Kalevi Jäntti Prize, the Young Aleksis Prize, has been nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize. She has received the prestigious 2023 Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö Literary Foundation Award, recognizing the artistic independence and high standard of her writing.

Her new novel, The Logbook of Love, was published in Finland in August 2023. The Logbook of Love is the first part of a trilogy of novels that create their world through conversations.

Laura Ertimo

Laura Ertimo is a geographer and author. She has previously worked in publishing of geography-related non-fiction and maps, and now she writes full time, specializing in children’s non-fiction. A recurring theme in her work is the holistic worldview, the interaction between phenomena, people and nature.

In 2020, she received the prestigious Tietopöllö Award for her work as a Non-Fiction writer. Her children's title WHERE DID THE ANIMALS GO, illustrated by Mari Ahokoivu, was nominated for the 2021 Finlandia Award and has also won the Tieto-Lauri award!

Mari Ahokoivu

Mari Ahokoivu is a Finnish illustrator and a comics artist. She’s been drawing professionally for over 10 years, mainly drawing graphic novels and comics for children, including Sanni & Joonas and Lola Olifante. Ahokoivu loves everything cute and scary. She lives and works in Copenhagen. 

Mari Ahokoivu won the Puupäähattu Comic Book Award 2023, and together with Laura Ertimo, they won the Tieto-Lauri Award 2022 and were nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2021 for WHERE DID THE ANIMALS GO?!

Mervi Lindman

Mervi Lindman is a much-loved illustrator whose cheerful artworks have been published in 19 different countries to date. Her work is full of humor, warmth, and emotional depth. She captures the magical world of childhood and the wonders of everyday life in her illustrations. Lindman’s passion lies in creating imagery that speaks to children while also entertaining adults. Lindman’s illustrations have been regularly appraised by critics and public alike.

Pasi Pitkänen

Pasi Pitkänen has become known for his richly detailed illustrative work on several children’s books such as the extremely popular Monster Nanny trilogy by Tuutikki Tolonen. He has also worked at Rovio Entertainment as an illustrator, character designer, and graphic designer. Pitkänen is the illustrator of the popular Kepler62 series and the author of two Children's titles Monster Tournament and The Island of Lost Animals.

Among Pitkänen’s hobbies are quantum physics, people-watching, B-movies, insects and baking.

Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award.  Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Tuutikki is nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026.

Photo credit: Otto Virtanen