The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award comes not only with substantial prize money, but also with a framed diploma. We commission a different Swedish illustrator each year to create the diploma. The diploma for the 2021 laureate Jean-Claude Mourlevat was illustrated by Kristin Lidström and features calligraphy by Henning Trollbäck.
Kristin Lidström has been a freelance illustrator and book designer for nearly a decade. She describes herself as a “picture person who likes words.” Henning Trollbäck is an artist and works as an illustrator and graphic designer.
Kristin: ‘I was honored and surprised. Still, I tried to treat it like any other assignment, I guess. I didn’t want to wind up in a creative crisis. I guess that’s something I’ve learned through experience. Don’t stress too much about prestigious assignments. Just keep on working and thinking as you usually do.’
Henning: ‘It was an honor! I was delighted to be commissioned as a calligrapher. This was actually my first pure calligraphy assignment. I enjoyed the opportunity to create a piece by hand that didn’t have to get processed on the computer and sent to the printer. Plus, just like when you do a book cover, it’s fun to get the chance to interpret an author’s work.’
Kristin: ‘What struck me most about the stories I read was that they were all different, yet all revolved around similar themes of good and evil. He has a way of using familiar territory to make us question our established ways of thinking about life. Very interesting to read and to think about in visual terms.’
Henning: ‘An incredible reading experience. He comes across to me as a real storyteller who possesses both depth and beautiful language, as well as a great humanist and a writer of major artistic ambition. I’m looking forward to being able to read his books with my children in Swedish.’
Kristin: ‘I tried to figure out the requirements and any boundaries I would have to stay within. It turned out to be a pretty free assignment – which, paradoxically, is usually harder. But after reading some of Jean-Claude’s works, I began to develop a feel for his style and his subject matter. I needed to narrow him down, so to speak, in order to start thinking pictorially. I went from words to pictures, which is my usual way. To represent Jean-Claude’s universe, I wanted to come up with images that were symbolically strong and conveyed a sense of dualism. I didn’t want to create a logical narrative, or a specific scene from any of the stories.’
Henning: ‘I pulled out all my old books of typography and handwriting. I love to take inspiration from history. For Jean-Claude Mourlevat’s name, I used a medieval script called “Italian rotunda”. I also sought some advice from a master calligrapher named Marianne Pettersson-Soold, a wonderful educator and a lovely person who is generous about sharing tips. Finding time for the assignment was a bit tricky, since I was on parental leave. But there are some assignments you just can’t turn down.’
Kristin: ‘For the main element of the image, I chose to focus on the book itself, or reading, which is a theme in many of Jean-Claude’s stories. The picture shows both belowground and aboveground, and has an organic outer shape. The flowers in the picture stretch upwards, symbolising the beauty of life. Below, a scarab beetle (in reference to the book Terrienne) emerges from its burrow, which is surrounded by men bearing weapons.’
