Maria Turtschaninoff

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-20

Maria Turtschaninoff is a Finland-Swedish author of fantasy fiction, born February 21, 1977, in Helsinki, Finland. She earned a Master of Philosophy from the University of Gothenburg in 2000, where she studied human ecology, and worked as a journalist in Helsinki after graduating before beginning her fiction career in 2014. As a child, she appeared in a minor role in the 1985 Finnish television series Harjunpää och antastaren. She writes in Swedish and is best known for the Red Abbey Chronicles, a fantasy series beginning with Maresi (2014) and continuing with Naondel (2016), set in a matriarchal world centered on an island sanctuary for women. Maresi won the Finlandia Junior Prize in 2014 as well as the Swedish YLE Literature Prize the same year, and Turtschaninoff received the Finland-Swedish cultural prize in 2017. She was nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize in 2015 and for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2018. In 2016, Film4 purchased the film rights to Maresi. Turtschaninoff's work is noted for its feminist themes and its unusual focus on communities of women largely outside the reach of patriarchal structures, distinguishing her within the broader landscape of Nordic young adult fantasy.

Universe(s)

Books

• Maresi (2014) · The Red Abbey Chronicles Core Canon
• Naondel (2016) · The Red Abbey Chronicles Core Canon
• Maresi Red Mantle (2018) · The Red Abbey Chronicles Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 3 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 won)

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