Backlight
Regular price
$23.00
Unit price
per
Ready to ship
Pirkko Saisio, now a teenager, can't decide which she hates most: God, her father, or her growing breasts. Grandpa has moved into the room long...
Pirkko Saisio, now a teenager, can't decide which she hates most: God, her father, or her growing breasts. Grandpa has moved into the room long promised to her, and Mother, overworked and distant, tries to keep the peace between her headstrong daughter and husband. When she's not escaping into her books, Pirkko has fun getting into trouble. That is until her Finnish teacher suggests she might have what it takes to be a real writer, but only if she is willing to work hard and make certain sacrifices. Years later, Pirkko spends the historic summer of 1968 working at a Swiss orphanage. The world is shifting around her, and to make matters even more complicated: she's homesick. At the orphanage no one understands her German, and away from home for the first time, she struggles to make sense of her suppressed queerness. In Backlight, the Finlandia Prize-winning author looks backward and inward, once again emerging, in Mia Spangenberg's sensitive translation, with an intimate portrait of a life lived in language.
Author: Pirkko Saisio
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Published: 06/10/2025
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781949641806
About the Author
Spangenberg, Mia: - Mia Spangenberg translates from Finnish, Swedish, and German into English. Her work has been published in Finland and the UK, and appeared in journals such as LitHub and Asymptote. She holds a Ph.D. in Scandinavian studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she resides with her family.Saisio, Pirkko: - Pirkko Saisio (b. 1949) studied drama and completed her actor's training in 1975. Her debut novel The Course of Life (Elämänmeno, 1975) won the J. H. Erkko Award. Saisio has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize seven times, winning it in with The Red Book of Farewells (Punainen erokirja, 2003). She has, among other awards, received Aleksis Kivi Prize and State Literature Award. Apart from novels, she has written numerous plays and scripts for film and television and is a well-known theatre director.
Author: Pirkko Saisio
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Published: 06/10/2025
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.10w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781949641806
About the Author
Spangenberg, Mia: - Mia Spangenberg translates from Finnish, Swedish, and German into English. Her work has been published in Finland and the UK, and appeared in journals such as LitHub and Asymptote. She holds a Ph.D. in Scandinavian studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she resides with her family.Saisio, Pirkko: - Pirkko Saisio (b. 1949) studied drama and completed her actor's training in 1975. Her debut novel The Course of Life (Elämänmeno, 1975) won the J. H. Erkko Award. Saisio has been nominated for the Finlandia Prize seven times, winning it in with The Red Book of Farewells (Punainen erokirja, 2003). She has, among other awards, received Aleksis Kivi Prize and State Literature Award. Apart from novels, she has written numerous plays and scripts for film and television and is a well-known theatre director.