Indigenous Literacy Foundation is the 2024 laureate

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) encourages reading and promote literacy by securing access to good literature for First Nations children of Australia. The organisation works in 427 First Nations Communities all over the Australian continent. ILF emphasizes the importance of First Nations children finding themselves, their culture and their languages reflected in the books they read.

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

Laurie Halse Anderson and HRH Crown Princess Victoria holding the ALMA diploma

Highlights from the Award Ceremony

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 ceremony

An 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.

- Boel Westin, jury chair

"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 laureate

Everything great that ever happened in this world happened first in somebody’s imagination.

- Astrid Lindgren from “That’s why children need books”, the speech Astrid Lindgren held at the reception of the H C Andersen Award in April 1958.

The award

Fast facts

The laureates

Get to know the laureates

Inspire young readers

Discover our reading guides

ALMA laureate Eva Lindström at work. Sitting at her desk in a light room.

Interview with Eva Lindström

Where does Eva Lindström get her inspiration? When did she know that she wanted to be a writer and illustrator of picture books, and what was she like as a child?

Read the interview

Children create miracles when they read.

- Astrid Lindgren from “That's why children need books”, the speech Astrid Lindgren held at the reception of the H C Andersen Award in April 1958

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