Who will be this year's laureate?
Will it be an author, illustrator, storyteller or reading promoter? For the 2026 award, 263 candidates from 74 countries and regions have been nominated. The new laureate will be announced on April 14 in a live program from Stockholm and at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
“We need to take children’s literature more seriously”
How does Maron Brunet succeed in writing about social problems without becoming propagandistic? What does her selection for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award mean to her, and how does she think children’s literature is treated in her native France?
Read the interview
“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
Astrid Lindgren
“Curious” is a word that Astrid Lindgren often used in her work. Curious is a word that also aptly describes Astrid herself and her life’s achievement. For it is curious, surely, that a farmer’s daughter from Sweden, from the spare and stony countryside of Småland, should grow up to become an author beloved around the globe, translated into nearly 100 languages, and lauded by readers of all ages.
Learn more about Astrid LindgrenAn introduction to Laurie Halse Anderson
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 ceremonyAn 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.
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 laureateEverything great that ever happened in this world happened first in somebody’s imagination.
"I get inspiration from everything that comes into my life"
When did Eva Lindström know that she wanted to be a writer and illustrator of picture books? What was she like as a child and does she always have a book going in her head?
Read our interview with the 2022 laureate
The spirit of Astrid Lindgren
The statutes of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award stipulate that laureates shall be authors, illustrators, storytellers or reading promoters whose work or activity for children and young adults is “of the highest artistic quality” and “conveys the deeply humanistic spirit associated with Astrid Lindgren.”
Read more about the spirit of Astrid LindgrenChildren create miracles when they read.
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