Shifting Waters by Jenni Räinä Nominated for the 2025 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction
4 November 2025
Shifting Waters by Jenni Räinä Nominated for the 2025 Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction
We are delighted to share that author Jenni Räinä’s newest non-fiction book, Shifting Waters, is among the six nominees for this year’s Finlandia Prize in Non-Fiction.
Shifting Waters: A Journey Through an Altered Landscape is a beautiful, intimate work about the disappearing nature. The book travels along waterways, from the shores of ancient seas to the rivers of today. It vividly depicts the disappearing ways of life and their uniqueness. It opens our eyes to changes that are difficult to see and understand when we are living in the midst of them. Shifting Waters is an impactful work about the disappearing nature that is taking place right before our eyes, yet we overlook. The book was recently nominated for the 2025 Botnia Prize.
Jenni Räinä is a non-fiction writer and journalist. Her family roots are in the small hamlet of Hyry (population 200), just north of Oulu, where she currently resides. Räinä is also one of the four authors of The Forest After Us (Metsä meidän jälkemme), which received the Finlandia Non-Fiction Prize in 2019. Räinä’s books reflect her extensive knowledge of Finnish nature, particularly forests and swamps, as well as her profound understanding of these subjects.
The Finlandia Jury’s motivation for Shifting Waters: A Journey Through an Altered Landscape:
“The book has a personal and distinctive narrative voice, but the text gives the topic plenty of space. Even if the reader doesn’t think they’ll be interested in waterways, they’ll enjoy reading this! The flowing narrative is engaging. The book makes one understand the vulnerability and importance of waterways as part of Finnish nature”.
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 Jenni Räinä and all other nominees!
