Tikkanen's prize was for Emma & Uno, her account of the history of her grandparents' marriage, which has been published in Swedish and Finnish.
The 76-year-old author is a former teacher and journalist with Finland's main Swedish-language newspaper, Hufvudstadsbladet, for which she still occasionally writes. Her first novel came out in Swedish in 1970, followed by a Finnish edition two years later.
The other award winner is Kaijamari Sivill, who has translated many English-language novels into Finnish. The award was specifically for her translation of Canadian author Anne Michaels' novel The Winter Vault.