Finnish author Sofi Oksanen at the Helsinki District Court on May 11, 2015. Oksanen was in court in Dispute with her former publisher Bazar. Photo – Lehtikuva.
Author Sofi Oksanen believes the claims of the Bazar publishing company to be absurd. Oksanen gave her testimony in the Helsinki District Court on Monday.
Bazar is demanding hundreds of thousand euros in compensation over the unpublished book, French Pear (Ranskalainen päärynä).
The claims are based on estimated loss of earnings from book sales.
Bazar believes that Oksanen breached her publishing contract in 2005. According to the company, Oksanen’s next book should have been a literary fiction novel. According to Oksanen, their agreement specifically related to French Pear.
The author maintains that the company knew of her writing the play, Cleaning (Puhdistus), for the National Theatre.
“Bazar had no interest in publishing the play. It’s unmistakably clear that they only wanted a novel.”
