Pajtim Statovci
Pajtim Statovci (born 1990) is a Finnish novelist. His debut novel, "Kissani Jugoslavia", was published in 2014, winning the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for best debut novel in Finnish for that year, and was published in 2017 as "My Cat Yugoslavia" in the UK and US. It was made into a play and staged at the Finnish National Theater in Helsinki in 2018. His second novel, "Tiranan sydän", won the Toisinkoinen Literature Prize for 2016, and was published as "Crossing" in the UK and the US in 2019. Early life. Statovci was born in Kosovo in 1990 to  Albanian parents. In 1992, after the outbreak of war in Yugoslavia, of which Kosovo was a part and where Albanians were persecuted, his family fled to Finland. He studied comparative literature at the University of Helsinki and screenwriting at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Awards. 2019: Finlandia Award winner for his third novel, Bolla 2019: Finalist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature for "Crossing" (translated by David Hackston) 2019: Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award 2018: Helsinki Writer of the Year Award 2017: Shortlisted for the Future of Finnish Culture Award 2016: Toisinkoinen Literature  Prize 2015: Shortlisted for the Flame Bearer Prize 2014: Shortlisted for the Young Aleksis Literature Prize 2014: Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize (Best Debut)