Children’s author Farhad Hassanzadeh and illustrator Pejman Rahimizadeh have been introduced as the Iranian nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) 2017, by the Iranian selection committee.
The ALMA is the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The prize is $600,000, making it the richest award in children’s literature and the fourth richest literary prize in the world.
Designed to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature, it recognizes creators of literature in a broad sense. Nominees include authors, illustrators, storytellers, and persons and organizations who work to promote literacy.
Three Iranian bodies including the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), Children’s Book Council and the Research Institute for History of Children’s Literature have selected Hassanzadeh in the field of writing children’s books and Rahimizadeh as an illustrator for the award, ISNA reported.
Hassanzadeh, 54, is the co-founder of the Iranian Association of Writers for Children and Youth. He has served as jury in various literary, film and theater festivals for children.
He has published more than 70 books (mostly for children and young adults) and has been conferred over30 national awards for his works.
Rahimizadeh, 46, is one of the most recognized Iranian illustrators, painters and graphic designers.
A member of the Association for Iranian Illustrators, he has illustrated over 600 children’s and young adult books as well as approximately 500 book covers. His illustrations have been showcased at national and international galleries and he is recipient of numerous awards.
Also in the field of promoting book reading, urban and rural mobile libraries of the IIDCYA have been introduced for the award.
A 12-member jury, including authors, literary critics and scholars, illustrators and librarians, will have meetings once a month and between the meetings, they will read the nominees’ piles of books and documents to select one or more laureates for 2017.
The ALMA was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 to honor the Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). It is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council.
