The American children’s book author Laurie Halse Anderson has been awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize for children’s and youth literature this year. This was announced by the responsible prize jury on Tuesday in Stockholm. Born in New York State in 1961, Anderson is one of America’s leading authors for young adults. In her expressive novels, she expresses the experiences of adolescents with sometimes brutal honesty, the jury recognized. The longing for love and belonging is a recurring theme in her work.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, donated by the Swedish government – often simply abbreviated as Alma – is considered the world’s most valuable award for children’s and young adult literature, with prize money of five million Swedish crowns (almost 450,000 euros). Last year he went to the Swedish illustrator and author Eva Lindström and thus stayed in the homeland of the great children’s book author Astrid Lindgren (“Pippi Longstocking”) – now he is crossing the pond for the first time since 2018.
“Through her tightly written young adult novels, Laurie Halse Anderson gives voice to the search for meaning, identity and truth in both the present and the past,” said Jury Chair Boel Westin at the awards announcement. “Her darkly radiant realism reveals the vital role of time and memory in young people’s lives. Pain and fear, longing and love, class and gender are explored with stylistic precision and sober wit.” Anderson evokes moods and emotions with tender intensity – and doesn’t shy away from the hardest things.
Anderson already showed that she is not afraid of difficult topics in her 1999 literary breakthrough “Speak”: Based on personal experiences, the author wrote about a 13-year-old girl named Melinda who was raped at a chaotic party and then raped herself can’t bring himself to tell others about it. The work had received several awards.
Anderson was audibly overwhelmed on the phone when Westin told her about her biggest honor yet. “Are you sure? Oh my god!” she said, completely taken aback. “First I have to sit down. Has anyone ever passed out when you broke the news to them?” Then she collected herself. “This is the greatest honor I’ve ever received. I’m so grateful.”
This year, 251 personalities and organizations from a total of 64 countries were nominated for the Alma. Among them were eight candidates from Germany as well as the German-Nicaraguan library based in Nicaragua. Anderson is still rather unknown in Germany – that should change with the award. She will receive the award later this summer in Stockholm.
Alma Candidate List Announcement
