Marion Brunet's Acceptance Speech

Good evening, everyone.

I have been thinking about the speech I must make here today since the 1st of April. What a wonderful date!

Actually, that’s not true. I didn’t think about my speech on the 1st of April. What I did above all, was laugh, shriek with joy, reply to dozens of congratulation messages, wonder if someone had made a mistake, think again and again, “Why me?”, read and re-read the announcement from the jury, my heart bursting with pride, and drink champagne with my friends.

But there was this speech to write.

Usually, I am familiar with concise, to-the-point speeches: you thank everybody, make sure you don’t forget anyone, and end with “now let’s eat and drink”. But there was no way I could be happy with something like that, for such an occasion as this.

I can’t just do a quick little turn when you have given me the best reward one can possibly aspire to in young adult fiction.

Our attitude towards young adult literature says a lot about our relationship with young people. With the extraordinary Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Sweden places the writers of young adult fiction, and therefore young adults, at the centre of the cultural stage.

That is rare. That is invaluable.

And I am deeply touched to have been chosen among my peers for this position.

We are living through complex, challenging times. We cannot ignore the rise of the political far right all over the world, the growing number of environmental disasters, and the worsening of social injustice.

It is frightening for us, but even more frightening for future generations. And that is partly what my novels for young people are about. But when I write for them, it is not because I want to warn them against anything – they don’t need me for that, because they are already experiencing what I revile.

Their fears are also mine, my sense of outrage is also theirs.

I stand beside them and my characters – not above them.

I think I can safely say that Astrid Lindgren felt equally close to her characters. She was bold enough to tackle dark topics such as death and abandonment, and took her readers very seriously. She put her talent at the service of literature intended for children, yes, but which speaks to us all, no matter how old we are, and now, I am extremely proud to have my name linked to hers.

I’ll end by quoting this sentence I found in her biography:

“It is a stroke of luck if, in every generation, there has been a true storyteller with their very own voice, which you listen to with pleasure and never forget.”

I hope I may do her credit, and belong to that kind of writer.

Thank you all – members of the jury, publishers who support me and guide me, translators, booksellers, teachers and readers – young and not-so-young. Tack!