Here’s the Press Release!

184 candidates from 66 countries are nominated for the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. This was revealed today at the Frankfurt Book Fair by Larry Lempert, Chairman of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award jury. The figures show a distinct increase compared to last year.

– It’s very gratifying that the number of nominated candidates and countries represented continue to increase, says Larry Lempert. The jury is full of enthusiasm for the exciting and difficult task to consider the work of so many qualified candidates.

Among the nominees are 38 per cent authors, 21 per cent illustrators, 20 per cent promoters of reading and organisations, and one per cent oral storytellers. 20 per cent of the candidates are nominated in more than one category. Among the candidates are 81 men, 74 women and 29 organisations and projects dedicated to promotion of reading.

The nomination list has eight new countries represented compared to last year: Cyprus, Ecuador, Eritrea, Greenland, Moldova, Mongolia, Tanzania and Zambia.

A complete list of nominees is published on www.alma.se/en. The recipient or recipients of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012 will be announced on March 20^th 1:00 p.m. CET in Vimmerby, the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren, and online at www.alma.se/en. In 2012 the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be presented for the 10^th time.

In 2011 the Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The previous laureates are: Kitty Crowther (2010), Tamer Institute (2009), Sonya Hartnett (2008), Banco del Libro (2007), Katherine Paterson (2006), Philip Pullman (2005), Ryôji Arai (2005), Lygia Bojunga (2004), Christine Nöstlinger (2003) and Maurice Sendak (2003).

Just announced, this year’s winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2011 is Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan.

The jury’s citation reads:

Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, painting the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books. His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible. Memories of childhood and adolescence are fixed reference points, but the pictorial narrative is universal and touches everyone, regardless of age.

Behind a wealth of minutely detailed pictures, where civilization is criticized and history depicted through symbolism, there is a palpable warmth. People are always present, and Shaun Tan portrays both our searching and our alienation. He combines brilliant, magical narrative skill with deep humanism.

Watch the announcement broadcast from Sweden (including a recorded phone-call to Shaun in Melbourne) here; and the presentation of Shaun Tan’s work given by member of the jury Maria Lassèn-Seger here. View our Gallery feature of some of Shaun Tan’s work and read our reviews of two of his masterpieces The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia.

Many, many congratulations to Shaun Tan!

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which amounts to SEK 5 million (approx. 500 000 EUR), is awarded annually to a single recipient or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and promoters of reading may be rewarded.  For the past two years PaperTigers has had the honor of being a nominating body for the award.

Today, the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominees were revealed at the Frankfurt Book Fair by the Chairman of the Jury, Mr. Larry Lempert. 175 candidates representing 62 different countries are eligible for the world’s largest children’s and young adult literature award. We are so pleased to see PaperTigers’ three nominees on the list: author and illustrator Allen Say, author and illustrator Grace Lin, and Katha, a “profit-for-all” organization based in India. You can view the complete list of nominated candidates  here.

On March 29, 2011, the winner or winners of the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be announced at the birthplace of Astrid Lindgren in Vimmerby, Sweden. The announcement will be held simultaneously at Bologna Book Fair and will also be broadcast live on the award website.

To keep abreast of  today’s exciting announcement and to learn more about the nominated candidates, be sure to check out the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award blog.

One of my highlights from the 2010 Bologna Book Fair was attending the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award announcement and seeing the winner, Kitty Crowther, who unbeknownst to us had been sitting next to us,  accept the award. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is announced  every year in March and then in  late spring, the ALMA winner visits Sweden and Europe to partake in Award Week: A Spotlight on Children’s Literature. This year Award Week will take place from May 23rd to June 1st and highlights will include:

May 25 ~ Meet Kitty Crowther, House of Culture, Stockholm, Sweden

“If I had to choose one word to describe myself, it would be storyteller,” says Kitty Crowther. Listen to her presentation of her work and her inspiration. Kitty will be joined on stage by  illustration expert Ulla Rhedin and Johanna Lindbäck, one of Sweden’s top literature bloggers, for a program that will showcase Kitty’s work and contextualise her inspiration and development as an artist.

May 26 ~ Presentation at the International Youth Library, Münich, Germany

After a welcome speech by head librarian Dr. Christiane Raabe, German illustrator Judith Drews will give a lecture on the work and importance of Kitty Crowther. Kitty will also present her work.

May 28 ~  Astrid Lindgren Conference, Vimmerby, Sweden

The bi-annual Astrid Lindgren conference in Astrid Lindgren’s childhood town, Vimmerby, gathers academics and scholars to discuss children’s literature and its development. Kitty Crowther will give the key-note address.

June 1 – Awards Ceremony, Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden

This  evening celebrates Kitty Crowther and her world of images  and also spotlights the importance of children’s literature. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award will be presented to Kitty Crowther in front of  1,000 invited guests. Kitty will receive the award amount of 5 million SEK (which makes the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award the world’s largest children literature award) as well as an original work by Swedish illustrator Eva Lindström.  The award will be  presented by H.R.H. Princess Madeleine of Sweden.

For more information on the ALMA Award Week check out the ALMA blog.

Saturday was the deadline for nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) 2011. Having barely caught our breath from this year’s announcement of Kitty Crowther as the ALMA winner for 2010, we found ourselves working right up to the mark to get our nominations submitted in time, but in they are and it’s very exciting to be able to share them with you all now, along with our 500-character nomination statements:

Author and illustrator, Allen Say, whom we also nominated last year (and if you haven’t already, do read our interview with Allen and enjoy our Gallery of his work):

Often drawing on his own background, Allen Say captivates his readers through beautifully honed prose and luminous watercolors. He embraces a striving for happiness with a blend of gentle humor and realism, and touches on many aspects of being human, such as race, migration, disability and age. Even young children can empathize with and find echoes in many of his stories. Say opens young hearts and minds both to new cultures and to their own potential; and his portrayal of the human condition provides a forum for children to recognize their own value and to dream.

Author and illustrator, Grace Lin (and don’t miss our interview with Grace, either, or her two Gallery features here and here; and do visit her blog):

Grace Lin is passionate about writing for children. Her child-centred creativity is filled with energy and imbued with core values such as family, friendship, loyalty and love. Her readers respond to the warmth of her stories, whether founded on reality or imagination, and to the charm of her illustrations, which demonstrate a commitment to unobtrusive detail. Often drawing on her Asian American heritage, and with a gift for interweaving old and contemporary elements in her work, Grace is not afraid to step away from tradition to create new, meaningful narrative for today’s children.

And Katha, a “profit-for-all”organisation based in India:

Katha is an Indian non-profit organization working in the areas of literacy and education. Since 1988, it has been successfully promoting the literacy to literature continuum in urban disadvantaged communities across India. Its multi-faceted school and community-based outreach approach, including reading campaigns, the supporting of pavement schools in slum clusters and the translation and publishing of Indian literature, among other initiatives, are playing an essential role in helping create a more literate, less divisive India.

You can explore Katha further via their website and we are looking forward to featuring them on PaperTigers in the not too distant future.

This year for the first time, PaperTigers was invited to submit nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. We have just heard that the jury is now sifting through the nominations and that the complete list will be made public on 25 September at the Gothenburg Book Fair; it will also be on their website so we’ll let you know when it’s available.

In the meantime, here are our “Grounds for Nomination” statements for artist and author, Allen Say, and author and promoter of education in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Greg Mortenson.

Often drawing on his own background, Allen Say captivates his readers through beautifully honed prose and luminous watercolors. He embraces a striving for happiness with a blend of gentle humor and realism, and touches on many aspects of being human, such as race, migration, disability and age. Even young children can empathize with and find echoes in many of his stories. Say opens young hearts and minds both to new cultures and to their own potential; and his portrayal of the human condition provides a forum for children to recognize their own value and to dream.

Allen Say is featured in a Gallery in our current issue of PaperTigers, and offers some fascinating insight into his latest book, Erika-San. You can also read an interview with him, in which he talks about his semi-autobiographical book for young adults, The Ink-Keeper’s Apprentice, as well as some of his other picture-books. Sally recently chose his Music for Alice for a Books at Bedtime post.

Greg Mortenson is a humanitarian whose motto is “Books, not Bombs.” Since 1993 he has been committed to promoting and supporting education and literacy (with an emphasis on girls’ education) in rural, underserved regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Through his work as co-founder/Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute, as of May 2009, he has established over 78 schools, supported the training of 600+ teachers and offered scholarships to hundreds of disadvantaged students, thus providing education to over 28,000 children (including 18,000 girls) who would otherwise have no opportunities.

Greg Mortenson is also founder of the Pennies For Peace program and author of the Kiriyama Prize-winning book Three Cups of Tea, which has been translated into 29 languages. It has been adapted into a version for young adults and a beautiful picture-book, Listen to the Wind, illustrated with wonderful collages by Susan L. Roth.

Please do share with us your thoughts and comments about our two nominations – we’d love to hear from you.