The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award Committee hereby has the pleasure of announcing that the winner of its 2014 award is the British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie. 
Sir Salman Rushdie receives this award due to the fact that he is an incomparable author, who through a blend of global realism and fairytale fantasy depicts the significance of journeys and cultural meetings for our time, and thus enriches world literature. Sir Salman Rushdie shares Hans Christian Andersen’s love of the narrative art of the fairytale.
Sir Salman Rushdie fulfills the purpose of the award in every aspect. It was instituted to celebrate Hans Christian Andersen’s influence on writers worldwide by selecting award winners, whose writings can be linked to Andersen’s name and authorshop through genre similarities or artistic qualities of the storyteller.
The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award is the largest Danish literary prize; the winner receives DKK 500.000. Sir Salman Rushdie will receive the award in Odense on Sunday, August 17, 2014.
The festive award ceremony will take place in collaboration with the Hans Christian Andersen Festivals and Odense Municipality.
The previous recipients of the award are: Paulo Coelho, J.K. Rowling and Isabel Allende.
