Laurie Halse Anderson received the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden

This evening, Laurie Halse Anderson received the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award diploma from  Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden during a wonderful ceremony at Concert Hall in Stockholm.

Laurie Halse Anderson received a diplom and a prize sum of 5 million SEK for her outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature.

Laurie Halse Anderson is one of America’s foremost writers for young adults. Her breakthrough novel, Speak, was published in 1999 and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film. In her richly expressive novels for young people she gives voice to the adolescent experience with sometimes brutal honesty. The yearning for love and belonging is a recurring theme for Anderson.

 
The jury’s motivation:
"In her tightly written novels for young adults, Laurie Halse Anderson gives voice to the search for meaning, identity, and truth, both in the present and the past. Her darkly radiant realism reveals the vital role of time and memory in young people’s lives. Pain and anxiety, yearning and love, class and sex are investigated with stylistic precision and dispassionate wit. With tender intensity, Laurie Halse Anderson evokes moods and emotions, and never shies from even the hardest things."

Stina Wirsén, Swedish illustrator created this year’s diploma.

Pictures from the Awards ceremony

Baek Heena, South Korean picture book artist is visiting Stockholm

This afternoon Baek Heena visited the library Tranströmer in Stockholm. She read from her book Cloud Bread during the activity organized by the library. The artist also wrote autographs. The activity was attended by children and adults who had the opportunity to meet her during this activity.

 

Baek Heena was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2020 but she couldn´t visit Stockholm because the pandemic.
During her visit to the library Tranströmer she left a gift, the artwork "Odd Mama".

Baek Heena is a South Korean picture book artist whose books are popular all over Asia and also here in Sweden.

Her expression is characterized by self-made miniature figures and environments that have been carefully lit and photographed.

Ur Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award hemsite:  

The Laureate av Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2020 - Baek Heena, picture book artists

The jury’s motivation
"With exquisite feeling for materials, looks and gestures, Baek Heena’s filmic picture books stage stories about solitude and solidarity. In her evocative miniature worlds, cloud bread and sorbet moons, animals, bath fairies and people converge. Her work is a doorway to the marvellous: sensuous, dizzying and sharp."

Photos taken during the activity in the library Tranströmer in Stockholm

All photo credit: Sofia Sanchez