The Gatherers by Elli Salo Nominated for the 2025 Finlandia Prize in Fiction
6 November 2025
The Gatherers by Elli Salo Nominated for the 2025 Finlandia Prize in Fiction
We are thrilled to share that author Elli Salo’s debut novel, The Gatherers, is one of the six titles shortlisted for the most prestigious literary prizes in Finland.
Elli Salo’s debut, The Gatherers (Keräilijät, 2025 Otava), is a tragicomic novel about gathering and gatherers, where three women and a retired dog find themselves randomly convened at a deserted border patrol station on the Finnish-Russian border. A bond grows between the three women, and as far as they may seem from everything, as close to the core of almost everything they get. Suddenly, the peripheral Lääte turns into the navel of the world: history that seems to be catching up with us, human knowledge of civilization, and the disappearance of the untamed nature come together in this touching yet comic novel about life, not death. The embodiment of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Salo tells the story not of those who hunt or conquer, but those who stay behind to cook, wash dishes, boil potatoes – the gatherers – even in the midst of crisis and catastrophe.
Elli Salo is a Finnish writer, playwright, and translator and is currently writer-in-residence at the Finnish National Theatre.
The Finlandia Jury’s motivation for The Gatherers:
“Three women who have encountered losses meet at an abandoned border guard station in the wilderness of Kainuu. The protagonist’s project to map wartime mass graves progresses, but not as planned. The nuanced narrative and unforced humor are compelling in this unique novel. Melancholy and comedy, humanity and brutality, as well as the vagaries of fate and tragedy, are the ingredients of the work’s humanistic and environmental message.”
The Finlandia Prizes are Finland’s most prestigious literary awards, presented annually to outstanding Finnish books in three categories: fiction (novels), non-fiction, and children’s literature. Each prize is worth 30,000 euros. The winners will be announced on 27 November 2025.
Our warmest congratulations to Elli Salo and all other nominees.
