The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2008 goes to the Australian author Sonya Hartnett.

The jury issued the following statement:: “Sonya Hartnett (Australia) is 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.”

Now in its sixth year, the award will be presented, like previous years, by HRH Crown Princess Victoria at the prize ceremony on 28 May 2008 at Skansen in Stockholm. Also attending will be the Swedish Minister for Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. 

SONYA HARTNETT Australian author, born 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria, made her publishing debut at the age of just 15, since when she has written 18 novels for children, young people and adults – although she herself generally prefers not to specify which age group she is writing for.

She is one of the authors currently charting a new course in both form and content for teen fiction, bringing it closer to adult fiction and blurring the distinction. She also constantly pushes her own boundaries. No two works are alike. She skilfully adapts her beautiful, precise and illustrative language and her artful narrative technique to the requirements of each novel. Hartnett often depicts situations of power and dependence in small groups: a family, a group of friends or a pair of twins. One of the ways in which she has renewed young adult fiction is by delving deep into the psyche of young people with difficult and traumatic experiences behind them. What her characters go through is often hard to endure. No reader can fail to be moved by what she describes. She does not avoid that which is dark, unpleasant or malevolent. However, beneath the surface there is a powerful, throbbing anger at the way children and young people are sometimes treated – an anger that, coupled with her masterful narrative ability, creates a sense of empathy and involvement.

Sonya Hartnett has been translated into a number of languages, including Danish, German, Swedish, Italian and Chinese. She has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Literature Prize in the UK for Thursday’s Child in 2002 and the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers in 2005 for her children’s book The Silver Donkey.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), established by the Swedish Government in 2002, is the world’s largest children’s and young people’s literary award. The annual international prize of SEK 5 million (equivalent to approx. USD 790,000, 540,000 Euros) may be awarded to authors, illustrators, narrators and/or promoters of reading whose work reflects the spirit of Astrid Lindgren. The object of the award is to increase interest in children’s and young people’s literature, and to promote children’s rights to culture on a global level. The award is administered by The Swedish Arts Council. Last year’s award winner was the Venezuelan institution Banco del Libro.