Tainaron: Mail From Another City (orig. fin

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

. Tainaron: Postia toisesta kaupungista) is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

/fantasy

Fantasy literature

Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...

 novel written in 1985 by Finnish author Leena Krohn

Leena Krohn

Leena Krohn is a Finnish author. Her large and varied body of work includes novels, short stories, children's books, and essays...

. The book is regarded as the author's breakthrough novel. Tainaron was nominated for the Finlandia Prize

Finlandia Prize

The Finlandia Prize is the most prestigious literary award in Finland by the Finnish Book Foundation. It is awarded annually to the author of the best novel written by a Finnish citizen , children's book , and non-fiction book...

 in 1985, The Nordic Council Literature Prize

The Nordic Council's Literature Prize

The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth 350,000 Danish kroner...

 in 1988, the World Fantasy Award

World Fantasy Award

The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

 and the International Horror Guild Award

International Horror Guild Award

The International Horror Guild Award is a recognition presented by the International Horror Guild to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of horror and dark fantasy. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by a large,...

 in 2005. It won the Thanks for the Book Award

Thanks for the Book Award

The Thanks for the Book Award, , is a Finnish literary prize that has been presented since 1966 by the Organization of the Booksellers’ Association of Finland , Libro ry and the Finnish Library Association .The award is presented once a year to a Finnish...

 in 1986.

Tainaron consists of 30 letters sent beyond the sea from a city of insects.

The U.S. edition was nominated for the World Fantasy Award

World Fantasy Award

The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

 and the International Horror Guild Award

International Horror Guild Award

The International Horror Guild Award is a recognition presented by the International Horror Guild to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of horror and dark fantasy. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by a large,...

 in 2005. This edition, published by Prime Books

Prime Books

Edited by two-time Hugo-nominee and 2006 World Fantasy-winner Sean Wallace, Prime Books is an award-winning independent publishing house, specializing in a mix of literary/commercial anthologies, collections, novels, and two magazines: Fantasy Magazine and Lightspeed Magazine. Some of its...

 in 2004 and edited by Kathleen Martin

Kathleen Martin

Kathleen Martin is an American small press publisher, book editor and actor. She is the co-founder of Wit's End Publishing and a senior editor of Point Blank Press, a crime fiction publisher....

, adds to the original Finnish publication by adding original illustrations by the author's sister, Inari Krohn, a Finnish painter.

Reviewed in glowing terms by Mathew Cheney, Jeff VanderMeer best of 2004, the writing has been described as "lyrical and deep, metaphysical, philosophical, poetic".

Translations

• English
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
   (2004): Tainaron: Mail from Another City, translator Hildi Hawkins, publisher Prime Books. ISBN 1930997825
• Estonian
  Estonian language
  Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
  
   (1994): Tainaron: Posti teisest linnast, translator Ele Süvalep, publisher Aniara Kirjastus
• Hungarian
  Hungarian language
  Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
  
   (1992): Tainaron, translator Csilla Varga, publisher Európa. Part of compilation Káin leánya: Mai finn kisregények
• Japanese
  Japanese language
  is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
  
   (2002): , translator Hiroko Suenobu, publisher Shinhyoron Publishing
• Latvian
  Latvian language
  Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
  
   (1998): Tainara: Vestules no citas pilsetas, translator Ingrida Peldekse, publisher Preses nams
• Polish
  Polish language
  Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
  
   (2008): Tainaron: Listy z innego miasta, translator Sebastian Musielak, publisher Świat Książki. ISBN 978-83-247-0467-5
• Swedish
  Swedish language
  Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
  
  (1987): Tainaron: Brev från en annan stad, translator Thomas Warburton, publisher Fripress Bokförlag. ISBN 9178960371

External links

• Author's website
• Tainaron available online in multiple formats
• Author Interview after US Publication