Gordon Van Gelder alerts us to the fact that Australian illustrator and author Shaun Tan has won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children’s literature. The prize 5 million Swedish kroner prize (about US$800,000) is funded solely by central government funds.
The Award’s web site quotes Tan as saying “It took me a while to absorb the information. I have followed the ALMA award since Sonya Hartnett won in 2008. I knew I was on the list, but I did not expect to win. My first thought was, what does it mean? News will take some time to digest. I may call Sonya to find out what I have to expect.” Tan goes into greater detail of his reaction (starting with washing the dishes) in this post.
Swedish Minister of Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth said “It is encouraging that the prize goes to an illustrator and an innovator of the picture book. Shaun Tan pushes the boundaries of what a picture book can be and reaches new age groups in that he also raises young people’s interest. Shaun Tan’s work also shows the pictures book’s artistic possibilities.”
The Associated Press notes “Tan, 37, has produced about 20 books, including Tales from Outer Suburbia and The Rabbits—a dark and controversial allegory of colonization written by John Marsden and illustrated by Tan when he was only 22.
“Earlier this year he won an Oscar for the animated film adaptation of his book The Lost Thing, which follows a beach-combing boy who sees what others can’t: A lumbering rust-colored being with little red bells on lobster-like claws and an industrial shell wandering unnoticed in the sand.”
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is an international children’s literature award, established by the Swedish government in 2002 in honor of the Swedish children’s books writer Astrid Lindgren (the creator of Pippi Longstocking). The Award may be awarded to writers, illustrators, narrators, and/or promoters of reading whose work reflects the spirit of Astrid Lindgren. The object of the award is to increase interest in children’s and young people’s literature, and to promote children’s rights to culture on a global level. The award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council.