Sedgwick and McKee nominated for Hans Christian Andersen Award

Author Marcus Sedgwick and illustrator David McKee have been nominated for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, administered by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).

The pair are up for the 2022 iteration of the award, and five of their books will be submitted to a panel of judges for consideration.

Sedgwick's selection includes Floodland, Revolver, She is Not Invisible, The Ghosts of Heaven and Saint Death, all published by Hachette UK, while McKee's features: Not Now, Bernard; Elmer; Mr Benn: Gladiator; The Conquerors; and Tusk Tusk, all published by Andersen Press.

Presented biennially, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards are presented to a living author and living illustrator whose complete works have "made a lasting contribution to children’s literature". The nominations are made by each national section of IBBY and are judged by an international jury of specialists in children’s literature.

The shortlists for the awards will be announced in 2022, and the winners will be revealed at the Bologna Book Fair 2022. They will be presented at the 38th IBBY World Congress, to be held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in September 2022.

Pam Dix, chair of IBBY UK, said: “We are very excited to be nominating two such highly respected contributors to the UK children’s literature world and look forward to working with them during the nomination process and holding an event with them later in 2021.”

Previous UK winners of the author award are Eleanor Farjeon (1956), Aidan Chambers (2002) and David Almond (2010). Winners of the illustrator award include Anthony Browne (2000) and Quentin Blake (2002). The 2020 winners were Jacqueline Woodson (US) for the author award and Albertine (Switzerland) for the illustrator award.