North of the Winter Sun

I sail out of the fjord, out towards the ocean, where there is air and I can breathe and I breathe. I breathe. It has been four years since Veronica Skotnes left her life on the mainland to live in isolation on a sailboat and experience the unforgiving wrath of the wind and the waves. Now, she heads towards Finnmark, the northernmost county of Norway, to visit islands where strangers share her longing for the sea. As she sets sail, she prepares to face the dangers of an open ocean and empty ports, in exchange for the relief of nature and community.North of the Winter Sun is an evocative portrayal of the hospitality found in isolated fishing villages, global warming’s impact on the ocean and its wildlife, and a young woman’s search for agency and freedom aboard an old, beloved boat.

Veronica Skotnes was born in Norway in 1998. Drawn towards the ocean, she began her journey in the North Sea five years ago. Since then, winds and currents have brought her north of the Arctic Circle, where she mans her own sailboat. For the past five years, she has sailed and lived on this boat along the coast of Finnmark. Skotnes shares her experiences at sea with 150,000 followers on social media. North of the Winter Sun: What I Heard in the Waves is her debut publication. She is currently living in a remote lighthouse while working on her second book. Diane Oatley is an award-winning writer and literary translator of Norwegian fiction and non-fiction. She has translated numerous titles, including The History of Bees by Maja Lunde, and  The Weather Changed, Summer Came, and so on by Pedro Carmona-Alvarez, both of which were long-listed for the DUBLIN Literary Awards. In 2015, she received NORLA’s (Norwegian Literature Abroad) Translator’s Award for Non-Fiction.