Mia Kankimäki

Mia Kankimäki (born 1971 in Helsinki)[1] is a Finnish writer, and author of two non-fiction books, which blend travelogue, memoir, biography and women's history.[2] Her second book The Women I Think About At Night was published in the US by Simon & Schuster in 2020.[3]

Biography

Kankimäki has a master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Helsinki, and she has worked as a copywriter and editor at various publishing houses.[4] Japanese culture is her special interest, and she's qualified as a teacher of Japanese flower arranging of Sogetsu Ikebana school.[5][1]

In 2010, she left her job and traveled to Japan on the trail of Sei Shōnagon, a lady-in-waiting and author who lived in Kyoto a thousand years ago.[6] The book about this journey, Asioita jotka saavat sydämen lyömään nopeammin (Things That Make One's Heart Beat Faster) was published in 2013 by Otava.[4] It was awarded with Helmet Award 2015 given by Helsinki libraries to ”a future classic”[6][7], and selected as the Best Travel Book of the year 2013.[8][9] It has been translated to Estonian and Italian, and will be published in Japanese and German as well.[10][11]

Her second book, Naiset joita ajattelen öisin, published in 2018, was inspired by her travels in the footsteps of female figures in Tanzania, Kenya, Italy, and Japan.[1] It was published as The Women I Think About At Night in the US in 2020, translated by Douglas Robinson.[12] Translation rights of the book have been sold to 15 territories to date, and it has already been published in Czech, Estonian, Norwegian, Latvian and Russian.[13]

Kankimäki lives in Helsinki, Finland.[1]

Awards and honours
  • Otava Book Foundation's non fiction award, 2020[14]
  • Honorary Award by Lauri Jäntti Foundation's Non Fiction Prize, 2019[15]
  • Nomination for Finnish Literary Export Prize, 2019[16]
  • Nomination for Great Journalist Prize, 2019[17]
  • Helmet Award, 2015[7]
  • Best Travel Book of the year 2013 (by Mondo magazine)[8]
  • Nomination for Kanava Award for non fiction, 2013[18]

Publications
  • Asioita jotka saavat sydämen lyömään nopeammin, 2013. ISBN 978-951-1-27250-2 (Finnish), 978-9985-3-4297-8 (Estonian), 978-88-566-4061-8 (Italian)
  • Naiset joita ajattelen öisin (The Women I Think About at Night), 2018. ISBN 978-951-1-30339-8 (Finnish), 978-1-9821-2919-4 (English), 978-9985-3-4297-8 (Estonian), 978-5-04-105058-0 (Russian), 978-80-267-1753-9 (Czech), 978-82-93311-68-3 (Norwegian), 978-9934-0-8821-6 (Latvian)

References
  1. "Historia on yhä liian miehinen, sanoo Mia Kankimäki – siksi hän lähti esikuviensa jäljille Kilimanjarosta Kiotoon ja kirjoitti heistä kirjan". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2018-10-07. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  2. "Mia Kankimäki". Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  3. "The Women I Think About at Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  4. "Sielunsisko muinaisessa Japanissa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  5. "Mia Kankimäki ja Japanin loputon lumo". Ateneum (in Finnish). 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  6. "Mia Kankimäki". Otava (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  7. "HelMet-kirjallisuuspalkinto 2015 Mia Kankimäelle | Helmet". www.helmet.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  8. "Matkailulehti Mondo: Vuoden matkakirja vie Kiotoon - ePressi". www.epressi.com (in Finnish). 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  9. "Vapaalla jalalla" (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  10. "Japanese rights sold to THINGS THAT MAKE ONE'S HEART BEAT FASTER". Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  11. "Asjad, mis teevad memuaarid heaks". Kultuur (in Estonian). 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  12. "Library Journal". www.libraryjournal.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  13. "The Women I Think About At Night". Elina Ahlback Literary Agency. 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  14. "Otavan Kirjasäätiö jakoi yli puoli miljoonaa euroa apurahoja ja myönsi neljä kirjallisuuspalkintoa – Otavan Kirjasäätiö". otavankirjasaatio.fi. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  15. "Tunnustuspalkinnon saivat Tuomas Aivelo, Mia Kankimäki, Teemu Keskisarja ja Helena Ruuska". Lauri Jäntin säätiö (in Finnish). Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  16. "Naisilla ylivoima vuoden 2019 Tulenkantaja-ehdokkuuksissa". Aamulehti (in Finnish). 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  17. "Tässä he ovat: Suuren Journalistipalkinnon ehdokkaat julki – katso koko lista!". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  18. "Kanava-tietokirjapalkinnon ehdokkaat valittu". Suomenkuvalehti.fi (in Finnish). 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
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