Biography

Emmi Itäranta (b. 1976) is a Finnish author who writes speculative fiction in Finnish and English. Her works have been characterised as lyrical dystopias with a strong ecological undercurrent. Itäranta’s debut novel Memory of Water (2014) has been translated into more than twenty languages and adapted for the stage several times, as well as into a film (The Guardian of Water, 2022).

Itäranta’s novels have won numerous awards, including Kalevi Jäntti Prize for Young Authors, Young Aleksis Kivi Prize, HelMet Readers’ Choice Award, Kuvastaja Award for the best Finnish fantasy book, Tampere City Literary Away and Tähtivaeltaja Award for the best sci-fi book in Finnish. Memory of Water was also shortlisted for Philip K. Dick Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Golden Tentacle Award, as well as being included in the Otherwise Award honor list and among the finalists of Premio Salerno Libro d’Europa.

Itäranta lived in the United Kingdom for fourteen years before relocating back to Finland. She now lives in Tampere, Finland, with her spouse and cats and continues to write in two languages. In her free time she enjoys long walks, crochet and urban gardening.