The winner of The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2022

The winner of The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), which is awarded annually for achievements in the field of literature for children and adolescents, in 2022 was the author and illustrator from Sweden Eva Lindström. The official website of the award reported this.

«Eva Lindström’s enigmatic picture world is constantly transforming. Trees move abroad, dogs take on giant proportions and objects vanish, suddenly to reappear. With rapid brush strokes and dense colouration, Eva Lindström creates an ambiguous dialogue of text and image. The boundary between children, adults and animals is fluid. With great gravity and wild humour, they wrestle with the eternal questions: Who are we? Where are we going? Who took our hats?», – the jury commented. 

Eva Lindström was born in Westeros in 1952. From 1969 to 1974 she studied at the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, where she studied painting. She began her career in the 1980s as an animator. 

The author herself says that her stories «often revolve around the loss of things or people, friendship and discord, sadness». In her illustrations, she mixes watercolour, gouache and pencil. Her characters – people or animals – are depicted in a somewhat «chaotic» style against the background of a saturated, rich colour palette.

In 2013, Eva Lindström was awarded the prestigious Augustpriset Prize for her illustrations for Ellen Carlsson’s book Snöret, fågeln och jag.

It is worth noting that The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was established by the Swedish government in 2002, after the death of the famous writer, to promote the development of children’s and youth literature. The introduction of the award was also a sign of recognition and deep respect for Lindgren, who remains one of the most beloved and popular writers in Sweden and abroad.

As reported, Ukrainian illustrator Kateryna Shtanko and writer Lesya Voronina were included in the list of nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Prize 2021, and the winner was the French writer Jean-Claude Mourlevat.

South Korean author and illustrator Heena Baek won the 2020 Award.