The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". and has been cited as the "most important activity" of IBBY. Between 1992 and 2022, the patron of the awards was Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. A special issue of Bookbird, a journal published by IBBY, is published as the award is given out.
Jury
The winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards is selected by a jury which is put together by IBBY's executive committee. The Jury's president is elected by IBBY's General Assembly. There were initially seven jurors, but this was increased to eight and in 2000 to ten. Two years later, the jury was split with five members focusing on writing and the other five handling illustrations. The jurors are expected to be competent in children's literature and ideally represent a diverse group. It generally takes six months to review candidates and select a winner.
Jella Lepman served as Jury President for the first three Andersen Awards, 1956 to 1960, and remained on the jury until her death in 1970, as the President of IBBY and then as its honorary president. Current four-year terms cover two award cycles. Other notable presidents have included Virginia Haviland (1970–1974), Patricia Crampton (1982–1986), and Ana Maria Machado (1986–1990).
Selection process
The award's regulations read: "The Hans Christian Award is presented every two years by IBBY to an author and to an illustrator, living at the time of the nomination, who by the outstanding value of their work are judged to have made a lasting contribution to literature for children and young people. The complete works of the author and the illustrator will be taken into consideration in the selection process". The award is explicitly designed to be an "international" work, and it is not explicitly given to a certain country.
IBBY has many member nationsall countries are eligible for membership. Every member nation has its own organization, known as a "national section", that is active across the country. All member nations can nominate candidates for consideration in the Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Some member states will repeatedly nominate the same author or illustrator, others nominate a new candidate each time. To nominate a candidate, a dossier is prepared that provides information including a list of works and biographical sketch. The portfolio must have between five and ten books by the candidate, which are sent to jurors, IBBY's president, and the "Jury Secretary". There were sixty-six nominees from thirty-three countries for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen awards.
Each winner receives the Hans Christian Andersen Medaille, a gold medal with the bust of Andersen, and a diploma. These medals are presented at the biennial IBBY Congress.
!scope="col" |Year
!scope="col" |Winner
!scope="col" |Country
!scope="col" |Award
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| scope="row" |1956
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| scope="row" |1958
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| scope="row" |1960
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| scope="row" |1962
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| scope="row" |1964
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| rowspan="4" scope="row" |1966
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| rowspan="4" scope="row" |1968
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| rowspan="4" scope="row" |1970
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| rowspan="7" scope="row" |1972
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|Siny van Iterson
| Netherlands
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| rowspan="4" scope="row" |1974
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| rowspan="3" scope="row" |1976
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| rowspan="2" scope="row" |1978
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| rowspan="3" scope="row" |1980
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| scope="row" |1982
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| rowspan="2" scope="row" |1984
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| scope="row" |1986
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| rowspan="2" scope="row" |1988
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| rowspan="2" scope="row" |1990
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| rowspan="3" scope="row" |1992
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| scope="row" |1994
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| scope="row" |1996
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |1998
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| rowspan="4" scope="row" |2000
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| rowspan="3" scope="row" |2002
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |2004
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| rowspan="6" scope="row" |2006
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |2008
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |2010
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|rowspan="5" scope="row" |2012
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| rowspan="6" scope="row" |2014
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |2016
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| rowspan="5" scope="row" |2018
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| rowspan="6" scope="row"|2020
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| rowspan="6" |2022
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| rowspan="6" |2024
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| rowspan="6" |2026
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Illustration award winners
thumb|[[Farshid Mesghali, the 1974 recipient]]
thumb|[[Květa Pacovská, the 1992 recipient]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Winners of the illustration award
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|Beatrice Alemagna
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|Ryoji Arai
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|Iwona Chmielewska
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|Gusti
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|Sydney Smith
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| rowspan="6" |2024
</references>
Bibliography
External links
- "The Hans Christian Andersen Collection at Northwestern: Illustrated Children's Books from Around the World: July 27th – September 9th, 2004" — multimedia exhibit by Northwestern University Library including much information about the HCA Award and the 2004 Illustration Award in particular