Nominated candidates 2025

A total of 265 candidates from 72 countries and regions have been nominated for the 2025 award, including 81 candidates new from previous years. The list includes authors and illustrators, as well as storytellers and reading promoters. The laureate will be announced on 1 April 2025.

“Books should be a fundamental human right”

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) works in more than 400 First Nations Communities all over the Australian continent, promoting reading and literacy for First Nations children. We spoke to Ben Bowen, CEO of the ILF, about the importance of representation, the keys to the organisation’s success, and the significance of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Read the interview

A darkly radiant realism

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.

Discover Laurie Halse Anderson

An introduction to Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson and HRH Crown Princess Victoria holding the ALMA diploma

Highlights from the Award Ceremony 2023

During a grand evening at the Stockholm Concert Hall, we celebrated the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Laureate – Laurie Halse Anderson. The award was presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.

Video and photos from the ceremony

An award of this calibre signals how incredibly important literature and reading are for children and young people, everywhere in the world. With a prize amount of 5 million Swedish kronor, it is an unparalleled investment in children’s literature.
- Boel Westin, jury chair

The diplomas

Apart from the prize sum of 5 million Swedish kronor, the laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award also receives a diploma, illustrated by a Swedish illustrator and, in most cases, hand-lettered by a calligrapher.

See all the diplomas

"Writing helps me make sense of the world"

Where does Laurie Halse Anderson get her inspiration? When did she know that she wanted to be a writer, and what was she like as a teenager?

Read our interview with the 2023 laureate

Everything great that ever happened in this world happened first in somebody’s imagination.
- Astrid Lindgrenfrom “That’s why children need books”, the speech Astrid Lindgren held at the reception of the H C Andersen Award in April 1958.

The award

Fast facts

The laureates

Get to know the laureates

Inspire young readers

Discover our reading guides

ALMA laureate Eva Lindström at work. Sitting at her desk in a light room.

Interview with Eva Lindström

Where does Eva Lindström get her inspiration? When did she know that she wanted to be a writer and illustrator of picture books, and what was she like as a child?

Read the interview

Children create miracles when they read.
- Astrid Lindgrenfrom “That's why children need books”, the speech Astrid Lindgren held at the reception of the H C Andersen Award in April 1958

Discover our laureates

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is awarded to authors, illustrators and narrators, but also to people or organizations that work to promote reading.

Find out more about the laureates

Art with a literary footprint

Take a stroll down 'ALMA Art Lane' in central Uppsala and meet artworks inspired by five Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award laureates. The art lane is a municipal initiative to put art and literature for young readers in the public eye.

More about ALMA Art Lane