Finnish science-fiction author Emmi Itäranta will be giving a reading of her book Memory of Water (Harper Voyager, 2014) for the Centre of Modern European Literature on 21 May.
Born and raised in Finland, but now resident in Kent, Emmi Itäranta is a graduate of the University of Kent. Memory of Water was her debut novel, published in Finland in 2011, and won both the Kalevi Jäntti Award and the Nuori Aleksis Award. It tells the story of a dystopian world, where water is the most valuable commodity.
The English translation, prepared by the author herself, was published in 2014 and has been short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Philip K. Dick Award and the Kitschies. Adam Roberts, reviewing the book in The Guardian, described it as a ‘poetic and melancholy debut’ and also wrote of its ‘flawless English’ translation.
The reading will begin at 5pm in Keynes College, Seminar Room 4. For more details, please see: www.kent.ac.uk/secl/events