Association of Writers for Children and Youth has announced two nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, one of the leading honorary awards in children’s literature.
The Iranian nominees are playwright and writer for children and adults Jamshid Khanian and researcher and writer Ali Asghar Seyyedabadi.
‘’Khanian has reflected ethnicity and folklore legends in his stories. He has presented a human face in his works that connect the young and old generations,” Jafar Tozandeh-Jani director of the Association of Writers for Children and Youth said.
Born in Abadan, Khanian, 56, has received many national awards including Golden Flying Turtle Award, and Children’s Book Council’s Best Book Award.
His stories include “The Earth’s Childhood,” “Baboor’s Beautiful Heart,” “The Shark” and “The Dwarf Emperor of Liliput Land’’.
Ali Asghar Seyyedabadi, 46, has written 40 plus books for children and young adults including “Carpet-Moustache Grandpa” and “Throne less Prince of the Underground” that has been translated into Turkish.
He launched book reading contests for children in villages and is one of the founders of the Flying Turtle Award for best children book of the year and the Yellow Reindeer Literary Award.
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is an international children’s literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honor Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002).
The prize is five million SEK ($545,000), making it the richest award in children’s literature and the one of the richest literary prizes in the world.
The list of final nominees will be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.
