Regulations

When founding the the award in 2002, the Swedish government formulated the regulations in an ordinance. The award is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council which has defined the work in two regulations. The jury itself decides on the rules for nominating and their internal work.

The government sets the fundamentals

The government determined the fundamentals for the award in an ordinance issued on December 12, 2002. The ordinance is included in the Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS), Ordinance (2002:1091) for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. It contains instructions regarding who is eligible and what criteria the laureate must fulfill. The award sum is also stated. It states the need for a jury and an award office and outlines their functions.

The Swedish Arts Council decides on regulations

Regulations regarding the jury, nominations and administration of the award can be found in regulations from the Swedish Arts Council, included in the council’s Code of Statutes (KRFS). The relevant section is Regulations (2014:1) on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award . This states the number of jury members and competence required. The members’ mandate periods and the jury’s basic obligations are specified. The regulation also contains basic rules regarding the nomination process and responsibilites concerning administration etc. for the award office.

The Jury

The jury decides on the nominations and its internal work. It decides which bodies have the right to nominate, how many candidates they can suggest and in which categories each group may nominate. These regulations can be found in the nomination letter sent to the nomination bodies in January. This letter also states what information must be included with a nomination and the deadline for submissions.

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.”

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Jury with extensive knowledge

Rewarding the highest-quality work demands an expert knowledge of international children’s and YA literature as well as children’s rights and children’s reading. The twelve-member expert jury has the challenging but pleasant task of evaluating some of the world's most prominent candidates each year and selecting a laureate.

Find out more about the jury

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