Iida Turpeinen

Iida Turpeinen writes at the shoreline where literature meets natural history, where forgotten species, scientific ambition and quiet human longing drift into the same tide. Emerging as one of the most talked-about voices in contemporary Finnish fiction, she has gained wide recognition for turning research, archives and ecological reflection into stories that feel both intimate and expansive.

Born in Finland in 1987 and based in Helsinki, her path to fiction grew alongside an academic life shaped by literary studies and an enduring fascination with science. Long before her first novel, she explored how humans name, study and sometimes misunderstand the living world, questions that later became the beating heart of her storytelling. That curiosity culminated in her acclaimed debut novel Beasts of the Sea (Elolliset), a sweeping, quietly haunting work that traces the rise and extinction of Steller’s sea cow across centuries and continents. The book resonated far beyond Finland, earning major literary prizes, nominations for prestigious international awards, and translations into dozens of languages.