My Finnish Taniwha is now available on Amazon and on iTunes too! It’s been soooo weird to read my own text in English, but I love the translation (thank you, Christina Saarinen!) with its funny finglish words.
I’ve also got fantastic feedback already. I asked Donald Adamson, a Scottish poet and translator, to read My Finnish Taniwha and tell his opinion about the translation and the story. I nearly cried when he sent his touching e-mail to me:
“It’s a fine story. I like the interweaving of voices and narratives. The outer and inner voices move seamlessly. The characterisation is well differentiated. Making Ella the moral centre of the story works well. There’s some sympathy for the obsessed, nerdy father, and even for the self-deluding mother, who comes across as damaged, even more than her sister. The harshness of the events comes through strongly and even shockingly but is not over-played, I think. I like the little moments of wisdom, insights, that give relief from the nastier events and decisions. The best thing is that the reader wants to read on, to know ‘what happens next’.”
I hope I’ll get more feedback in English after CoNZealand. I’ll be on a virtual Worldcon panel talking about myths in literature on 31st July. I’m already nervous about that, but I hope the experience will be pleasant and inspiring. The famous fantasy author David Hair from New Zealand will be on the same panel discussion, OMG!
Taru Kumara-Moisio 