IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People is proud to announce the shortlist for the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award – the world’s most prestigious international children’s book award:
Authors: Marie-Aude Murail from France, Farhad Hassanzadeh from Iran, Eiko Kadono from Japan, Joy Cowley from New Zealand and Ulf Stark from Sweden.
Illustrators: Pablo Bernasconi from Argentina, Linda Wolfsgruber from Austria, Xiong Liang from China, Iwona Chmielewska from Poland, Igor Oleynikov from Russia and Albertine from Switzerland.
The IBBY members elect the Jury President during the biennial world congress and the Executive Committee elects the international jury of experts from nominations submitted by the IBBY National Sections. Patricia Aldana from Canada/Guatemala was elected as the 2018 Jury President and she led the ten jurors from around the world: Denis Beznosov (Russia), Yasuko Doi (Japan), Reina Duarte (Spain), Andrej Ilc (Slovenia), Eva Kaliskami (Greece), María Beatriz Medina (Venezuela), Yasmine Motawy (Egypt), Lola Rubio (Argentina) and Junko Yokota (USA).
The criteria used to assess the nominations included the aesthetic and literary quality as well as the freshness and innovation of the body of work; the ability to see the child’s point of view and to stretch their curiosity; and the continuing relevance of the works to children and young people. The Award is judged on each candidate’s entire body of work.
After the meeting Aldana said, “It was a privilege to work with such a diverse, well prepared, open minded and passionate jury. The exchanges between jurors taught us all new ways of seeing, understanding and appreciating the remarkable range of work that had been submitted for the Award by IBBY National Sections around the world. In times such as these it is heartening to know that barriers to understanding do not need to exist between people of good will. On the contrary these exchanges enriched and enlightened us all. The jury feels that children everywhere can similarly learn to know, understand and care for each other by encountering the work of these creators.
In light of the jury’s desire to help build bridges of understanding and to expand access to the very best books they chose to create a list of fifteen outstanding books, some from the short-listed authors, some from other nominees, that they felt were important enough to merit translation everywhere so that children around the world could read them.”
The two winners will be announced at the IBBY Press Conference on Monday, 26 March 2018 at the Bologna International Children’s Book Fair. The medals and diplomas will be presented to the winners during the 36th IBBY Congress in Athens, Greece on Friday, 31 August 2018. www.ibbycongressathens2018.com
The International Board on Books for Young People is comprised of 75 National Sections and works to bring children and books together. It is the oldest and most highly regarded organization in the world working globally for children and books. The Andersen Award is sponsored by Nami Island Inc.
For a full list of candidates, click here.
