Press invitation: The world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature to be announced on April 5

Welcome to cover the announcement of the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Time: April 5 at 12:45 pm
Venue: Illustrator’s Café, Bologna Children’s Book Fair

Programme
12.45 Opening speaker is Staffan Forssell, Director General at the Swedish Arts Council and Helen Sigeland, Director at the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Speech by Robert Rydberg, Ambassador of Sweden to Italy.

13.00 The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2016 is announced by Jury Chairman Boel Westin through a streamed link from the National Library of Sweden, Stockholm. The announcement is followed by a short presentation of the laureate (s) by the jury present at the Illustrator’s Café.

13.45 A celebratory toast in the ALMA stand C5 in Hall 30

Jury representatives will be available for interviews and the award office may provide journalists, if possible, with contact information for people and organisations with expert knowledge about this year’s laureate(s). For interviews and contact details please contact Communications Officer Helene Andersson. Photos and press releases in various languages will be available in our press room: http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/alma.

A press package with videos in high resolution from the press conference will be available on http://www.thenewsmarket.com/alma during the afternoon. Please register if you are a first time user. Questions about registration may be forwarded to www.alma.se/en

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is given annually to a single laureate or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters are eligible. The award is designed to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature. The UN convention of rights of the child is the foundation of our work. An expert jury selects the laureate(s) from candidates nominated by institutions and organisations all over the world. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 and is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council.

A day to remember

Our photographer Stefan Tell worked hard yesterday afternoon – here are some of his photos from the announcement at the National Library of Sweden.

Speech by Sweden’s Minister for Culture and Democracy, Alice Bah Kuhnke.

Jury Chairman Boel Westin announced the 2015 Laureate: PRAESA!

Reactions from the audience at the National Library!

Henry Ascher, professor of paediatrics and member of the ALMA jury presented the work of PRAESA.

Neville Alexander, the founder of PRAESA.

The press conference was followed by interviews…

…and interviews…

…and some more interviews.

And outside the sun was shining! 🙂

The 2014 laureate will be announced in Stockholm on March 25!

From the Astrid Lindgren archives at the National Library.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2014 will be announced on March 25 at the National Library in Stockholm, Sweden.

– Our ambition is constantly to develop our work, says Director Helen Sigeland. We are next year looking forward to announcing the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature at the National Library of Sweden.

The announcement will be broadcast live on http://www.alma.se and streamed by link to the international children’s book fair in Bologna, Italy.

– We want to accomplish an interesting and accessible program focusing on the 2014 laureate and the works of Astrid Lindgren, says Helen Sigeland. The National Library keeps the Astrid Lindgren archive, which is on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register since 2005.

The candidates nominated for the 2014 award were presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair on October 10. The list of candidates consists of 238 nominees from 68 countries. The list is available here.

Authors, illustrators, storytellers and reading promoting individuals and organisations may be nominated to the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

The award ceremony will take place (as usual) at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 2, 2014.