Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Canadian illustrator and picture book artist Jon Klassen is the recipient of the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

The Swedish jury, chaired by Boel Westin emeritus professor of literature, said, ‘Through his subtle and evocative storytelling in words and pictures, Jon Klassen opens new perspectives on our place in the universe. What happens when a rock falls from the sky, when hats disappear or a skull begins living a life of its own? With precision, emotion and inventive wit, life’s challenges of uncertainty and hopefulness are portrayed in an interplay of colour and form. Jon Klassen’s brilliant tales stand out for their effortless elegance and ambiguous depth, where the reader becomes a co-creator.’

Read the jury’s full citation on the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award website.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to promote every child’s right to great stories. It is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. With a prize of five million Swedish kronor, it is the largest award of its kind. Above all else, it highlights the importance of reading, today and for future generations.

263 candidates from 74 countries and regions were nominated for the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a list including authors and illustrators, as well as storytellers and reading promoters.Previous winners include Laurie Halse Anderson, Bart Moeyaert and, in 2016, Meg Rosoff.

The award will be presented to Jon Klassen by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden on May 25, 2026, at the Concert Hall in Stockholm.

US author Laurie Halse Anderson has been awarded the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to promote every child’s right to great stories. A global award, it is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. With a prize of five million Swedish kronor (EUR 450,000), it is the largest award of its kind and highlights the importance of reading, today and for future generations.

Laurie Halse Anderson wins for writing about challenging topics in ways that both engage and move readers. There is a passion in her writing that goes straight to the heart, says jury chair Boel Westin.

The Citation of the Jury is here: ‘In her tightly written novels for young adults, Laurie Halse Anderson gives voice to the search for meaning, identity, and truth, both in the present and the past. Her darkly radiant realism reveals the vital role of time and memory in young people’s lives. Pain and anxiety, yearning and love, class and sex are investigated with stylistic precision and dispassionate wit. With tender intensity, Laurie Halse Anderson evokes, moods, and emotions and never shies from even the hardest things.’

Laurie Halse Anderson’s literary breakthrough came with the young adult novel Speak, about a young woman raped at a party. Wintergirls is a harrowing and detailed documentation of two girls’ life-threatening eating disorders, The trilogy Seeds of America includes the books Chains, Forge and Ashes.

The jury have created an in-depth introduction to the works of Laurie Halse Anderson.