News
22/10/2025. Foreign/Own: ”autumn books” of the season
October 21, 2025:
Participants in the Foreign/Own project opened a new season. The program was dedicated to the ”autumn books” and besides discussion and translation of the novel Moominvalley in November by T. Jansson.
Participants learned about books that evoke an autumnal atmosphere, expressed in the time period, imagery, characters, and themes. Autumn in books is as contrasting as the autumn of the year, with its vibrant colours of September and the bleak, starkness of November. Therefore, writers turn to autumn both as a cosy backdrop and as a symbol of a restless state of mind and soul. In the selection of "autumn books " presented at the National Library of Karelia, readers will find a contemporary Russian mystical detective story, a French novel about late love, and philosophical reflections on time and life.
The characters in Tove Jansson's novel Moominvalley in November also reflect on loneliness and support, the journey and home, alienation and unity. The program participants read and translated some chapters of the story into Karelian in advance, with the editorial support of Tatyana Baranova, a teacher and a native speaker of the Livvik Karelian. At a meeting in the library, the participants discussed the text's features and shared their opinions on the story. Moominvalley in November is one of the author's later books, and it reflects on the personal experience of losing a loved one, thoughts on aging and loneliness, as well as strength of spirit and the desire to find one's path and one's home.
