Argentinean author, illustrator, and musician Isol has won the annual Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize. The award was announced Tuesday, March 26, in a presentation from Vimmerby, Sweden, which was broadcast live online, as well as to gathered crowds at the Bologna Book Fair. In Bologna, the live feed cut out just before the winner was revealed, prolonging the tension of the announcement a bit and requiring one of the members of the awards jury in attendance to disclose Isol as winner, instead.
Isol, the pen name for Marisol Misenta, is the creator of more than a dozen books for children, including It’s Useful to Have a Duck, Petit, the Monster, and Nocturne: Dream Recipes. She was chosen from a field of 207 nominated candidates from 67 countries, including authors, artists, literary advocates, and organizations. “Isol writes picture books from the eye level of a child,” wrote the jury. “Her pictures vibrate with energy and explosive emotions."
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is given by the Swedish Arts Council, is the largest prize in the children’s book world; the winner receives five million Swedish crowns.
