Canyon

By Niko Hallikainen

The fiery, frenetic debut novel is a literary hall of mirrors constantly surprising the reader.

A young man is desperately in love with his school bully. When an unstable relationship ends, the narrator escapes into an obsessive vortex of webcam sex. Through a miraculous coincidence, the videos open a heady gateway to a new life in the heat of Los Angeles. The narrator’s deep yearning for love takes the reader on an unpredictable journey filled with shadows and poetic expressiveness.

Simultaneously uninhibitedly physical, unabashedly funny and profoundly tragic, Canyon is a novel that creates an uncommonly passionate and irresistible relationship with the reader.

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About the author

Niko Hallikainen (b. 1989) is a writer and performance poet from Helsinki. Hallikainen’s intense and transgressive works observe the ambivalent intersections of class, sexuality and spirituality.His shows consist of text-based solo performances, which have premiered, among others, at the Flow Festival, Baltic Circle International Theatre Festival and Kiasma Art Museum. Hallikainen teaches creative writing at Helsinki’s Theater Academy. He has spent three months in an artist’s residency program in London and will perform in New York in 2023.In 2021, his debut novel Canyon was nominated for Helsingin Sanomat Literary Award, rewarding the best debut novel of the year. Hallikainen has been honoured as Helsinki’s Writer of the Year 2023.