Panel discussion at the Helsinki Book Fair 2026
When: Friday, October 23, 2026, 5:00–5:30 PM
Where: Blåbärslandet stage, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre
Where: Blåbärslandet stage, Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre
Participants: Illustrator Maria Sann, library development specialist Salomon Hellman, and university lecturer Katrina Åkerholm.
I have been invited by Svenska kulturfonden to a panel discussion at the Helsinki Book Fair titled “Artists of the Book Industry – Status, Visibility and Rules of the Game.” The event offers a conversation about the artistic role of illustrators and how the book industry values visual storytelling as part of Children's literature.
The discussion focuses in on the role and recognition of illustrators in the literary world, exploring questions such as:
• How is illustration valued at a time when visual content is becoming increasingly important?
• Are there hierarchies between text and images?
• Is an illustration in a picture book primarily commissioned work or an artistic creation?
• What status, visibility, power, and artistic legitimacy do illustrators have within the book industry?
For more information, please visit Svenska Kulturfondens website.
Discussion at the Turku Book Fair 2026
Erika Kallasmaa and I were invited to give a presentation on Perspectives on Human-Made Art and Authorship by the Association of Illustrators, Kuvittajat r.y.
In the discussion following the illustration exhibition, we reflected on how literature and picture books are, at their core, about exploring humanness as well as an encounter with otherness.
We also reflected on the responsibility of the creator and critically examined how the Finnish language shapes perceptions of authorship in relation to books. In the context of picture books, we suggested replacing the Finnish word kuvittaja(“illustrator”) with kuvakirjailija (“picture-book author”).
Nomination for the 2026 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize
Excerpt from the jury´s statement:
Together, Klingenberg and Sann narrate with remarkable fluency in the picture-book form. Despite its simple premise, the subtext is charged with meaning. The book’s condensed atmosphere and dramatic progression are skilfully constructed through the use of heavily reduced text, a sombre colour palette, elusive shadows, enigmatic silhouettes, bold shifts in perspective, and expressive glances and facial expressions. Readers encounter a child’s world where dangers and fears are felt viscerally, fuelled and magnified by imagination, yet also confronted with heroic courage and a strong sense of justice.
Nomination for the 2025 rudolf Koivu AWARD
Nomination for the Rudolf Koivu -award for illustration. The jurys statement:
Maria Sann: Gamlingarna (Kustantamo S&S, 2025)
The illustrations of the book are fluid and confident – it is easy to surrender to it. Maria Sann’s particularly developed eye for colour, the sensitivity of the line and her sense of rhythm delight in this book as well.
Maria Sann: Gamlingarna (Kustantamo S&S, 2025)
The illustrations of the book are fluid and confident – it is easy to surrender to it. Maria Sann’s particularly developed eye for colour, the sensitivity of the line and her sense of rhythm delight in this book as well.
Nomination for the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize
The jury has stated as follows:
Klingenberg’s concise text and dynamic dialogue are surrounded by Sann’s thoughtful imagery. On the effectively blackened cover, Teo stands eye to eye with a grinning (or friendly smiling?) skeleton which is covered in phosphorescent paint and so glows in the dark. Darkness returns in the form of well-judged spreads where dark and light combine to create a fascinating X-ray effect, such as when Teo’s mother holds up her hand against the bedside lamp to show him that she also has a skeleton inside her. Sann seamlessly makes a picture book from the story by surprising readers with varied spreads, unexpected perspectives, and responsiveness to how the sensitive boy protagonist is portrayed.
Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (SLS) award 2023
For the picture book Skelettet, written by Malin Klingenberg
Award motivation:
A piece of picture book art that takes the child's existential reasoning in relation to a broken leg seriously, and at the same time alienates the taken-for-granted also for the adult reader. The philosophical potential of the human skeleton is released through inventive approaches and artistic expressions that put the child's experience at the center.
Rudolf Koivu AWARD for illustration 2021
The 2021 Rudolf Koivu award for the illustrations in the book Bokstavsvärldar, written by Henrika Andersson.
The jury’s statement:
In Maria Sann’s illustrations for Bokstavsvärldar, style knows no boundaries. The letters, created using different techniques, are an imaginative celebration of joy in which a child’s perspective is present — and the artist has clearly retained that perspective as well. The overall atmosphere of the work is fresh and playful.
The book has a good rhythm and is cohesive, even though the techniques and styles vary. Maria Sann has had the courage to leave space and openness on the spreads. The variation between different styles also works pedagogically. The letters are easier to remember when every page is different. Sann has approached the letters through design. The image does not simply illustrate the text but stands on its own. The illustrations are delightfully bonkers. You never get bored, because every page offers something new!
