The author Jessie Wee from Singapore has been nominated to the world’s largest award for children and young adult literature among 175 candidates from 62 different countries all over the world are nominated to the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA).
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Literature Award is awarded to writers, illustrators, oral storytellers and to promoters of reading. The candidates are nominated by organisations and institutions all over the world with a broad expertise on modern children and young adult literature.
The winner or winners of the total prize sum amounting to SEK 5 million will be announced on Tuesday 29 March.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world’s largest children and young adults literature award. The prize sum is awarded one or several recipients annually and amounts to a total of SEK 5 million. The award is presented to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and to promoters of the habit of reading. The purpose of the award is to strengthen and enhance the interest of children and young adult literature in the world and also to strengthen the rights of children globally. An expert jury choose the award winner among the candidates nominated from organisations and institutions all over the world.
Earlier recipients of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Literature Award are: Kitty Crowther (Belgium, 2010), Tamer Institute (The Palestinian territories, 2009), Sonya Hartnett (Australia, 2008), Banco del Libro (Venezuela, 2007), Katherine Paterson (USA, 2006), Ryôji Arai (Japan, 2005), Philip Pullman (United Kingdom, 2005), Lygia Bojunga (Brazil, 2004), Christine Nöstlinger (Austria, 2003) and Maurice Sendak (USA, 2003).
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council.
