Sydney Smith Shortlisted for the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award
Sydney Smith is among the list of creators shortlisted for the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award. Nominated for illustration by IBBY Canada, Lesley Clement, Nomination Committee Co-Chair, says “Smith enjoys exploring and experimenting with new narrative structures, character perspectives, and artistic challenges. What remains a constant is the empathy with which he approaches his subject matter and that he inspires in his readers. With his books now being published in over 20 languages and territories, this empathy for small people in seemingly mundane places speaks to a global community about singularity and plurality and the intersection of the two.” To view the nomination dossier, click here.
Smith's fellow nominees in the illustration category include Cai Gao (China), Iwona Chmielewska (Poland), Nelson Cruz (Brazil), Elena Odriozola (Spain) and Paloma Valdivia (Chile). The authors nominated for the prize are Marina Colasanti (Brazil), Heinz Janisch (Austria), Lee Geum-yi (Republic of Korea), Bart Moeyaert (Belgium), Timo Parvela (Finland) and Edward van de Vendel (Netherlands).
Every two years, the IBBY Executive Committee elects an international jury of experts from nominations submitted by the IBBY National Sections. The 10-member jury assesses the complete body of the candidates’ work. All the candidates nominated for the Award have made outstanding contributions to children’s literature in their countries and are selected by the IBBY National Sections; a complete list of the 2024 candidates can be found here.
This year's jury—Evelyn Arizpe (Mexico/UK), Brenda Dales (USA), Sabine Fuchs (Austria), Diana Laura Kovach (Argentina), Shereen Kreidieh (Lebanon), Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (Germany), Jaana Pesonen (Finland), Tan Fengxia (China), Pavle Učakar (Slovenia) and Morgane Vasta (France)—was led by Jury President Liz Page, with Carolina Ballester acting as Jury Secretary.
"It was an honour to work with such a professional and remarkable jury," says Liz Page. "Despite the challenging task of assessing such a diverse list of nominees, the meetings and discussions were harmonious and enlightening. In the strained atmosphere of today’s world, it is reassuring to know that barriers to understanding one another do not need to exist between us. With this exceptional shortlist of 12 creators of works for children and young adults, we hope that young people everywhere will learn to understand others and care for them.”
The two winners will be announced at the IBBY Press Conference on Monday, April 8, 2024 at the Bologna International Children’s Book Fair. The medals and diplomas will be presented to the winners during the 39th IBBY Congress in Trieste, Italy (August 30-September 1, 2024).
For more information, please visit ibby.org or ibbycongress2024.org.
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