TEHRAN – Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCY-Kanoon) announced on Tuesday its nominees for the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA).

Accordingly, writer Hamidreza Shahabadi and illustrator Reza Dalvand will be competing for the prestigious award, which is presented by the Swedish government every year to promote children’s and youths’ literature in the world.

The Institute for Research on History of Children’s Literature and the Children’s Book Council of Iran are other Iranian cultural centers allowed to select Iran’s nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Shahabadi, who was nominated for the award in 2021 and 2022, is also the manager of Madreseh Publications, a publisher of school textbooks.

He is the author of “A Smiling Banana”, which was selected by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) for its 2021 Collection for Young People with Disabilities.

He has also written “No One Dares to Do That”, a thriller published in braille. His credits also include “Goethe Street Café”, “When Moji Was Lost” and “Vertical Cemetery”.

32-year-old Dalvand is the illustrator of dozens of books, including “Where Is My House?” and “The Gluttonous Washing Machine”, “Gulistan” and “Mrs. Bibi’s Elephant”.

His works have been showcased in many solo and group exhibitions in England, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine and several other countries. 

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award amounts to SEK 5 million (about €570,000), making it the world’s largest award for children’s and young adults’ literature.

The award was established in 2002 by the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs to commemorate Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren and to promote children’s and youths’ literature from around the world.

Every year, more than 250 individuals and organizations around the world are nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The candidates are authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters.

The twelve-member jury has the challenging but pleasant task of evaluating candidates each year and selecting one laureate (or several).

The jury will announce the 2023 laureate in March at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.

Swedish illustrator Eva Lindstrom won the ALMA 2022. She has published some 35 solo titles and has illustrated many books by other authors. Her work has been honored with multiple awards.

Photo: A file photo shows copies of books illustrated by Iranian artist Reza Dalvand.

MMS/YAW