Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize goes to reading foundation for indigenous children
Published: Tuesday, Apr 9th 2024, 15:20
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This year's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize goes to the Australian Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), which teaches children from the indigenous population to read. This was announced by the jury of the prestigious prize for children's and young adult literature in Stockholm on Tuesday.
The citation stated that the foundation promotes reading with curiosity and respect among the children of Australia's indigenous population and emphasizes the value of different languages and stories. As a result, this year's award does not go to an individual - as in previous years - but to an organization for only the fourth time in the award's 22-year history.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize is the most highly endowed prize of its kind, with prize money of five million Swedish kronor (just under 427,000 Swiss francs). 2023 was awarded to the US young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson. The popular Austrian children's and young adult author Christine Nöstlinger (1936 - 2018) is also one of the prizewinners.
This year, 245 candidates from 68 countries and regions were nominated, including a total of eleven people and one library from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Swedish government established the award in 2002 following the death of the world-famous children's book author Astrid Lindgren ("Pippi Longstocking", "Michel from Lönneberga").
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