Etana Editions, a small independent publishing house specializing in children's picture books, founded by Jenni Erkintalo and Réka Király in 2014, has received the State Prize for Children's Culture awarded by the Art Promotion Center (Taike).
The State Prize can be awarded in recognition of meritorious work completed within the last three years or for a long-term, meritorious artistic career, or activity for the benefit of the art field. The prize for Children's Culture is the largest of the State Prizes, totaling 30,000 euros, and its recipient is decided by the director of the Art Promotion Center (Taike).
The prize justification state:
"In the work of Etana Editions publishing house, the importance of illustration art in children's literature has been particularly emphasized. In Etana's thinking, the illustration is not subordinate to the text, but an important part of the story's narration.
[...] Etana Editions represents a new, author-driven way of publishing children's picture books in Finland. It has been able to quickly create a whole new generation of Finnish children's books and has survived the challenging commercial pressures of the industry.
The activities of the publishing house are valuable from the point of view of Finnish children's picture books and children's culture: the publication of artistically high-level picture books in Finland and the international export of Finnish picture books strengthen the know-how and development of the entire field in Finland.
The awarding of Etana Editions is a recognition for the unique, content-driven and high-quality children's picture book art in a small language area, and for the work of two professionals passionately dedicated to this."
The founders of Etana Editions, Jenni Erkintalo and Réka Király, are happy about the recognition they have received: "We are extremely grateful that our work on new Finnish children's visual literature is appreciated. In these particularly challenging times for artists and pilots of small publishing houses, the award encourages us to continue taking artistic risks and publishing ambitious, almost handcrafted works. We believe that picture books can shape society: they can awaken the joy of reading in children, create lifelong reading memories and provide food for thought far into the future."
Jenni Erkintalo and Réka Király will be at Etana Editions studio on Tuesday 24.11.2020 at 12-2pm at Kapteeninkatu 1 C, 00140 Helsinki. Children's writer Marika Maijala, who received the 2020 State Prize for illustration art, will also be there.
More information:
Jenni Erkintalo, jenni@etanaeditions.com, tel. 040 759 0109
Réka Király reka@etanaeditions.com, tel. 050 320 4773