Annika Edlund
About
Born: 1956
Currently lives in: Umeå
Jury member since: 2012
Annika Edlund is a children’s librarian and literary educator. Before her retirement in 2021, she worked at Grubbe Public Library in Umeå. She is the head of Krumelur, a cultural association for young writers in Norrland, and Pilgatan, a co-op bookstore and café with an extensive and popular program of cultural activities. She is passionate about reading promotion and has spent much of her career helping children and young people fall in love with reading.
You are a tireless champion of reading promotion. What motivates you?
"I think children’s and young people’s literature is very, very important! I truly wish that everyone could become a reader of books: for what reading brings to our lives, our communities, and just for the joy of it. But getting people to read doesn’t just happen; how you talk about it matters, and I want to get people to see the importance of reading and really embrace children’s books. It’s a matter of constantly talking up books and reading. In recent years, interest in reading among children and young people has nosedived. In the past, we’d see children of a certain age start plowing through books – having what you might call a bookworm phase. But nowadays, rather few children ever enter that phase. Without having reading experiences, you won’t become a reader. And most people don’t have reading experiences on their own. They need some guidance. As adults, teachers and educators, we have to constantly show that reading is important. Once a reader, always a reader."
What makes a good book?
"Tough question! The language is important. It should flow and be poetic. That’s easy to hear when you read out loud. The text should reach out and pull you in! In a picture book, there should be an interplay between the words and pictures, and between both of these and the reading itself."
