IBBY UK nominates Agard and Morris for Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2024 

The UK arm of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced it has nominated John Agard and Jackie Morris for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award 2024.

Agard, the author of works such as Half-Caste and Other Poems (Hodder Children’s Books) and John Agard’s Windrush Child (Walker Books) and the first winner of the BookTrust lifetime achievement award, is nominated in the author category. Morris, illustrator of The Lost Words (Hamish Hamilton), which was the British Book Awards’ Children’s Book of the Year in 2018, is nominated in the illustrator category.

In the portfolio supporting Agard’s submission, Morag Styles, co-author of Teaching Caribbean Poetry (Routledge), writes: “John Agard is a key figure in bringing Caribbean poetry for both children and adults into wider consciousness in the UK and internationally.

“Agard’s work has been immensely influential with young people, bringing many to enjoy poetry through its vitality, wit, wisdom and charm. He has been publishing outstanding poetry and fiction for the young for 40 years and shows no sign of letting up."

Jake Hope, author of Cheesed Off! (UCLan), in an essay supporting Morris’ submission, writes: “Jackie has raised the profile, understanding and appreciation for illustration in ways that benefit all other creators in the UK, the industry and which helps enrich the lives and feed the imagination of children and adults alike, guiding the gaze towards different ways of seeing the world around us.

“The books Jackie has illustrated have been published to great acclaim across the world with her work being translated into over 14 languages and adapted for stage and film alongside being set to music.”

Pam Dix, chair of IBBY UK, said: “We are very excited to be nominating two such highly respected and significant contributors to the UK children’s literature world and look forward to working with them during the nomination process. My colleagues in the IBBY team have prepared very strong submissions for these excellent candidates."

The IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Awards are the highest international recognition given to creators of children’s books whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children’s literature. The Author Award has been given since 1956 and the Illustrator Award since 1966. The award consists of a gold medal and a diploma, presented at a festive ceremony during the biennial IBBY Congress. The recipients of the awards are selected by an international jury of literature experts. A full list of the all the 59 nominees from 33 countries can be found here.

The shortlists for the 2024 awards will be announced early in the new year and the winners at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in April 2024. The awards will be presented to the winners at the 39th IBBY World Congress in Trieste, Italy, at the end of August 2024. Previous UK winners of the author award are Eleanor Farjeon (1956), Aidan Chambers (2002) and David Almond (2010) and of the illustrator award are Anthony Browne (2000) and Quentin Blake (2002). The 2022 winners were Marie-Aude Murail (France) in the author category and Suzy Lee (Republic of Korea) in the illustrator category.