The editorial team at Svenska Dagbladet – a leading daily newspaper in Sweden – has handpicked a list of the “Best Books of the 21st Century.” No. 4 on the list is Sofi Oksanen’s award-winning and internationally bestselling novel Purge, with the motivation as follows:

“In Purge, Finnish-Estonian Sofi Oksanen depicts the population in Estonia and its fate during the 20th century, with parallels being drawn to contemporary Estonians’ lives. Through two women’s differences and similarities, the reader gets to experience up close what the will to survive can do to a human being. The occupation of land and body is a strong theme in the novel, which has achieved great success both in the Nordics and in the US. Purge was also awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize, and has become a radio serial, film and theater.”

Innocence is a large-scale symphonic opera with an international wide-ranging cast, composed by Kaija Saariaho and libretto written by Sofi Oksanen. It is scheduled to have its world premiere at the 2021 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July.

Although the premiere still lies ahead, the opera has already been shortlisted for the prestigious 2021 Fedora Opera Prize.

The Fedora Opera Prize is awarded by Fedora – a European platform that supports innovation in opera and ballet – and is bestowed on promising artists and teams of co-producing cultural institutions who collaborate on the creation of new opera or ballet productions to reach out to new and wider audiences. This prize celebrates new talents and ideas in opera and ballet that will shape the future of these art forms.

To vote, click the “Read more” button below.

Sofi Oksanen has been awarded a Medal of Honor by The Ukrainian Association in Finland for her promotion of Ukrainian culture in Finland and for drawing attention to Ukraine in Europe and the world.

Sofi Oksanen’s latest novel, The Dog Park, is set both in Finland and in Ukraine. The novel – currently sold to 22 countries – highlights the cruelty of the infertility business and takes a stand for women’s rights to their own bodies.

Sofi Oksanen’s The Dog Park is currently No. 1 in Estonia.

This weekend, SF Studios announced that it will be the Nordic distributor of the upcoming film adaption of Sofi Oksanen's bestselling novel When the Doves Disappeared. Cinematic Inc. will produce the feature, with Antti J. Jokinen attached to direct.

When the Doves Disappeared is a story of occupation, resistance, and collaboration in Estonia during and after World War II, when the boundaries and power structures of Europe changed dramatically. Oksanen’s novel traces these changes as seen through the eyes and lives of one Estonian family.

Click the "Read more" button below to read the full article in Variety magazine.

The prestigious Swedish literature magazine Vi Läser has announced the best translated fiction of the decade. Among the 10 listed novels is Sofi Oksanen’s Purge, which is described as a modern masterpiece.

Click “Read more” below to find the article in Swedish.

Sofi Oksanen’s The Dog Park has now been sold to 20 territories!

In Sofi Oksanen’s The Dog Park, modern-day Helsinki intertwines with the past of Ukraine’s post-Soviet independence. The corruption of the East meets and feeds the greed of the West, and at this intersection stand two women. Their story of loyalty, love and broken trust play out against a backdrop of power struggles – between influential families, and between the sexes as the lifegiving ability of the female body becomes a lucrative commodity.

The official Finnish bestseller list for the month of September sees Sofi Oksanen’s The Dog Park shoot straight to the top spot. The just published novel comes in as No. 1 in fiction.

In Sofi Oksanen’s The Dog Park, modern-day Helsinki intertwines with the past of Ukraine’s post-Soviet independence. The corruption of the East meets and feeds the greed of the West, and at this intersection stand two women. Their story of loyalty, love and broken trust play out against a backdrop of power struggles – between influential families, and between the sexes as the lifegiving ability of the female body becomes a lucrative commodity.

Oksanen moves between psychological thriller and the acutely human as she weaves a captivating narrative about a woman unable to escape the memory of her lost child, the powers that still hunt her, and the lies that saved her life. Sharply observant and a master of portraits, this time Oksanen turns her eye to the fertility business, illustrating the micro-realities of the international baby-making factories.

Sofi Oksanen has been awarded a prestigious Medal of Honour by the French Order Ordre des Arts et des Lettres that recognizes significant contributions to the arts and literature, or the propagation of these fields, by French and foreign citizens alike. She receives the Chevalier (Knight’s) distinction, which in the past been bestowed upon the likes of William S. Burroughs, Alice Munro and Tim Burton. The ceremony which will see Sofi decorated is to be held at the beginning of 2019 in France. Oksanen has previously been the recipient of several major French literary awards, notably the Fnac- and Prix Femina Ètranger awards for her novel Purge in 2010.

The Nobel Prize in Literature will not be awarded by the Swedish Academy this year. In the wake of that, a new academy has been formed to award an international literary prize.

Sofi Oksanen and Ulf Lundell are both nominated for The New Academy Prize in Literature. The list of nominees is composed by Swedish librarians. Three authors will be singled out from the voting for a final judging by the expert jury. A fourth author will enter the final entirely based on the nominations from the librarians. Of these authors, two will be female and two will be male. The voting closes on August 14th. The winner will be announced on October 14th and presented at a formal event on December 10th.

To see the full list of nominees and to vote, click on “Read more”.

Sofi Oksanen and Pajtim Statovci have both been nominated for awards at The Culture Gala of the Century in Finland. The gala will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence, and the past 100 years’ cultural heritage.

Sofi Oksanen has been nominated in the Internationalization category for the Ambassador of Finnish Culture award. She shares the category with among else director Aki Kaurismäki.

Pajtim Statovci is a nominee for the Future of Finnish Culture award in the Future category, which turns an eye to the individuals that will shape contemporary Finnish culture in the years to come.

The Gala of The Century will take place in Turku on October 18th. It will be broadcast live by Finland’s national public broadcasting company, YLE.