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The Art of Making Picture Books: Mia Spangbenberg, Jenni Erkintalo, and Marika Mijala at Scandinavia House
September 26, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
FreeJoin author and artist Marika Mijala, translator Mia Spangbenberg, and Etana Editions children’s book publisher Jenni Erkintalo, in celebrating the release of Rosie Runs! They’ll discuss how Nordic children’s picture books are made, how authors and illustrators work together, the meaning and the work of translators, and trends and challenges in the Nordic children’s picture book world.
You can register for the event at the Scandinavia House website.
Marika Maijala lives and works in Helsinki as an illustrator and children’s book writer. Her debut writing project, Rosie Runs, was nominated for the Nordic Council Children’s and Young People’s Literature Prize, and selected for the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition. In 2020, Marika was nominated for the ALMA Award. Marika works across writing, illustration, visual arts and animation. Her artistic practice draws from play, experiment, and trial and error in the spirit of DIY. Marika’s main creative sources are the realm of narration, which she has loved since childhood, as well as her relationships with other living and non-living creatures. Her versatile body of work includes picture books, art books, paintings, drawings, texts, animations, videos, installations and illustrations for public spaces. Her stories and illustrations have been published worldwide.
Mia Spangenberg translates from Finnish, German, and Swedish into English. Her work has been published in Finland and the UK, and appeared in journals such as LitHub and Asymptote. She was awarded an honorable mention for the Nadia Christensen ASF Translation Prize for her translation excerpt from Finnish of Pirkko Saisio’s Punainen erokirja (The Red Book of Farewells). She is particularly passionate about children’s literature and a regular contributor to the WorldKidLit blog. Mia holds a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she resides with her family.
Jenni Erkintalo is a picturebook maker, illustrator, graphic designer and co-founder of independent children’s book publisher Etana Editions. She received her BA & MA at Aalto University and worked as the Art Director of Miltton Oy, Helsinki, and also founded Jeje Oy. She is the author of books including Kuka Ihana? (Who’s Lovely), 2023, Ystäväni vesi (My Friend Water), 2023, Pop ja värikkäät numerot (Pop and Colorful Numbers), 2022, and others.