Australian Author Nabs Astrid Lindgren Award

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 3/14/2008 1:08:00 PM

Australian children’s author Sonya Hartnett is this year’s winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which was established by the Swedish government in 2002 and comes with a $790,000 cash prize, the highest paying children’s and young adult literary award.

Hartnett, 39, was first published at the age of 15 and she has since written 18 novels for children, teens, and adults, some which have been translated into Danish, German, Swedish and Chinese.

Hartnett often depicts situations of power and dependence in small groups: a family, a group of friends, or a pair of twins, says the Lindgren Award Web site. The jury cited her as “One of the major forces for renewal in modern young adult fiction. With psychological depth and a concealed yet palpable anger, she depicts the circumstances of young people without avoiding the darker sides of life. She does so with linguistic virtuosity and a brilliant narrative technique; her works are a source of strength.”

A biography of Hartnett on the Lindgren Award Web site says, "Perhaps the most emotionally compelling ingredient is her ability to delve deep into the psyche of young people with difficult and traumatic experiences behind them.”

Hartnett is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Literature Prize in the U.K. in 2002, and the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers in 2005.

Named after the Swedish creator of Pippi Longstocking, the annual international prize is open to authors, illustrators, narrators, and promoters of reading whose work reflects the spirit of Astrid Lindgren.

The award will be presented by Swedish Crown Princess Victoria at the prize ceremony on May 28, 2008 at Skansen in Stockholm.