In today’s episode we are joined by author Mariia Niskavaara to talk about her debut novel, Esther, the Butcher. Published in Finnish in October 2025, the English translation by Kate Sotejeff-Wilson is expected to be published in February 2027.
Mariia is an art historian and museum curator turned author. Alongside her work at the Finnish National Gallery and the Modern Art Museum in Espoo, she has recently finished her PhD at the University of Helsinki, where she wrote her thesis on the aesthetics of meat, the body, and decay. Esther, the Butcher won the prestigious Helsingin Sanomat Debut of the Year prize last year, and was shortlisted for the Runeberg Prize. The book has also attracted significant international attention, and translation rights have been sold in 30 territories.
Mariia’s agents, Bonnier Rights Finland, offer this description of the novel: “From childhood, Esther rehearses life outside her parents’ butcher shop—pushing a baby doll under her dress, waddling until it tumbles onto the asphalt before bewildered customers.
Years later, Esther becomes a butcher herself, gifted with an uncanny ability to understand the language of meat. Yet her craft cannot satisfy the fierce longing that consumes her: the desire to reproduce. When an artificial inseminator enters her life, hope flickers—but no child comes. Under the gaze of a small-town community, Esther moves through life as if on a surreal theatre stage, her lonely room pulsing with the joys and sorrows of the world.”
Books Mentioned:
Esther, the Butcher - Mariia Niskavaara
Glass, Irony and God - Anne Carson
Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal - Lucy Cooke
Open Heavens - Jonas Eika (to be published in English in 2027)
Hot Milk - Deborah Levy
The Dog Stars - Peter Heller
Fever - Deon Meyer
The Summer Book - Tove Jansson
Guest: Mariia Niskavaara
Producer and Host: Mia Todd
Co-host: Francis Neale
Editing and Marketing: Hanna Todd
