17 October 2025

Five Rights & Brands represented authors and illustrators nominated for ALMA 2026

We are delighted to share the news that Linda Bondestam, Siri Kolu, Jenny Lucander, Sanna Pelliccioni & Arndís Þórarinsdóttir are all nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026. The full list of nominees was announced earlier this week.

The award was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to promote every child’s right to great stories. The global award is given annually to a person or organisation for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature and is the greatest award for children’s and young adult literature, with a prize of 5 million Swedish kronor. It’s administered by the Swedish Arts Council.

Linda Bondestam is one of the most prominent authors and illustrators in the Nordics. She has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award several times, and this is her eighth nomination. Her award-winning picture book Chop Chop – The Story of a Busy Robot (Chop chop – En tapper jordbos berättelse) is one of the 2025 White Ravens. Her works are also featured in the ongoing Kollektivet – Picture Book Illustration from Finland exhibition.

Siri Kolu is an acclaimed, award-winning author. Her successful Robbersons book has been celebrated over the years. It was awarded the 2010 Finlandia Junior Prize, and it has received the prestigious English Pen Translation Award twice. The English edition of Me and the Robbersons (translated by Ruth Urbom and published by Stripes Publishing) was one of the selected works on IBBY’s UK Honour Books 2024 List and part of the IBBY Honour List 2024 collection that was introduced at the IBBY Congress in Trieste, Italy, in August 2024.

Jenny Lucander is a celebrated graphic artist and children’s book creator. This is her fifth nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her atmospheric illustrations in My Flying Grandma (När farmor flög) complement the warm and moving story by Annika Sandelin. Her works are also featured in the ongoing Kollektivet – Picture Book Illustration from Finland exhibition.

Sanna Pelliccioni is an award-winning Finnish graphic designer, illustrator and children’s book author. Her collaboration with author Leena Virtanen, the illustrated non-fiction picture book Tove! in the illustrated Finnish Superwomen picture book series, was awarded the Queer Non-Fiction Book of the Year in 2023. The Finnish Superwomen series was also shortlisted for the 2024 Anni Swan Award. The newest independent title in the series, Kaija! tells the story of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, one of the leading voices of her generation. Sanna Pelliccioni’s works are also featured in the ongoing Kollektivet – Picture Book Illustration from Finland exhibition.

Arndís Þórarinsdóttir is an award-winning Icelandic author and translator. Her multi-awarded YA novel Somersault (Kollhnís) received the Icelandic Literature Prize (2022), the Icelandic Women’s Literature Prize in the Children’s Book category (2023) and the Reykjavík Children’s Book Award (2023), and it was nominated for the Nordic Council Prize in 2022. Her newest title, Solar (Sólgos, Mál og menning), is a gripping and powerful dystopian YA novel, set to be published in November 2025.

The total list of nominees includes 263 candidates from 74 countries, including 78 candidates from previous years. Here you can find the entire list of outstanding nominees. The laureate will be announced on 14 April 2026.

Our warmest congratulations to all nominees!