Inga Magga’s novel One Half nominated for the Lapland Literature Prize

Inga Magga’s second book One Half is among the six nominees for the Lapland Literature Prize. One Half is a moving novel about the postwar generations of Sámi children, today’s urban Sámi identity, and reconnecting to one’s own roots.

The Lapland Literature Prize is presented every second year and jointly funded by libraries in Lapland. With the prize, the libraries want to highlight quality literature from Lapland. The prize recognizes fiction either set in Lapland or written by an author born in Lapland or living in the region. The public also has a chance to vote for their favourite title among the nominees. The winner will be announced on March 19, the National Library Day in Finland and Equality Day, which also honours Minna Canth, a Finnish author, journalist and social activist who fought for women’s rights. Read more about the prize here.

Here’s the jury’s motivation:

“Inga Magga movingly describes the urge and effort to explore one’s own family and its history to find oneself and become whole. The main character, Ibbá, has her roots in Kuttura in Sápmi, and her present life in Tampere. The Sámi language is a “wild river”, inviting but unfamiliar. Learning and getting acquainted requires courage, boldness, and breaking down inner barriers. The book reveals the traditional Sámi way of life and philosophy and its clash with the demands of Finnish society.”

Inga Magga is a Finnish writer with Sámi heritage and a semi-professional Thai boxer. Her debut novel Shadow Boxer (Like, 2020), about sexual abuse in the sporting world, earned her Finland’s ‘Sports Book of the Year’ prize and a nomination for the Torchbearer Prize.

In One Half, Ibbá returns to her family’s ancestral home in Kuttura, where she begins to ask questions of her ageing parents, and why she never learned to speak Sámi. She begins unravelling the past, going back to the postwar years when Sámi children from remote villages were separated from their families by being forced into boarding schools for most of the year. As Ibbá uncovers her family’s secrets, she has to ask herself what Sámi means to her.

Our warmest congratulations to Inga Magga!