Wolf Erlbruch received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria. Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy, Mrs Alice Bah Kuhnke, gave a speech in honour of the laureate.

During the evening, musical entertainment was provided by Swedish opera singer Rickard Söderberg and the Sami artist Sofia Jannok. A dance adaption of Wolf Erlbruch’s book Duck, Death and the Tulip was performed by Fredrik Quiňones and Stacey Aung, choreographed by Mari Carrasco. The ceremony was hosted by Yukiko Duke, journalist and critic. Apart from the prize sum, 5 million SEK, the laureate received a diploma illustrated by Marcus-Gunnar Pettersson and Maja K Zetterberg.

"Being an illustrator, means you never work without a given text. To start reading a new manuscript is like entering a foreign country. You know nobody." said Wolf Erlbruch in is acceptance speech.

 

The German illustrator and picturebook author Wolf Erlbruch is came to Sweden to receive the 2017 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) and gave a public lecture. The award was presented by H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria at a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on 29 May 2017 attended by Alice Bah Kuhnke.

 

The compare is the journalist and literary critic Yukiko Duke:

– Wolf Erlbruch approaches the big life issues with warmth and humour and makes them easy to understand for the youngest readers. He is truly a worthy laureate of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's largest literary children's literature prize. It is a great honor and joy for me to lead the celebration of this wonderful author and illustrator.

On May 23, Wolf Erlbruch meets the public in a lecture at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm. The event is open to the public and free of charge. The program for the visit in Sweden also included meetings with children and young adults at Hjulsta grundskola and the German school in Stockholm as well as a visit to Astrid Lindgren’s childhood home Näs in Vimmerby.

“Oh dear, oh dear” was Erlbruchs’s reaction when Jury Chairman Boel Westin on April 4 informed the German illustrator that he is the laureate of the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The choice of Wolf Erlbruch has been honored around the world and has had a great deal of media impact in Sweden and abroad.

Wolf Erlbruch, born in 1948, has written some ten books of his own and illustrated nearly fifty titles by other authors. He is best known for his illustrations of The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business (1994), which became a great success around the world.

 

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