Author Johanna Sinisalo, 42, sprang a surprise on Monday by winning this year's Finlandia Literary Prize, worth FIM 150,000, with her first novel Ennen päivänlasku ei voi (Before sundown you cannot...), published by Tammi.

   

The work was selected from a shortlist of six by this year's "autocratic jury" Professor Auli Viikari, shown here at left, awarding the prize to Johanna Sinisalo. Viikari described Sinisalo's fantasy novel as one in which the limits of the human image are tested. The work is a modern science fiction tale of a young troll boy, who brings upheavals into the life of a photographer.

   

Sinisalo is by no means a complete beginner, despite this being her first novel. She has published short stories, essays, TV screenplays, and has also had many years experience working in an advertising agency.

   

Monday's Finlandia Prize awards were the 17th such event. The prize is awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation, and since 1993 it has been restricted to novels.