Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2024

Liz Page grew up and lived in England until 1985 when she and her family moved to Basel. She soon became involved with JuKiBu, the Intercultural Children’s Library in Basel, of which she was a founding member. Later she was elected President of the Intercultural Children’s Libraries Association of Switzerland. She joined IBBY as Executive Assistant in 1997, worked as Administrative Director from 2003-2006 and Director of Member Services, Communications and New Projects until March 2009. She served as IBBY Executive Director from March 2009 to September 2022. 

Evelyn Arizpe grew up in Mexico in a bilingual family. Her first degree was in Latin American Literature at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Her interest in children’s literature led to an internship at the International Youth Library in Munich, and then to a PhD in Education at the University of Cambridge. She is currently Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and in 2021 was re-elected President of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature. Her focus has been on picture books and the potential they have for opening dialogue and sharing different points of view. Through her research and teaching programmes, as well as courses, conferences and publications, she has sought to make connections between the Spanish- and English-speaking worlds of children’s books.

She has served as a juror for several children’s literature awards, including the VIIIPremio Iberoamericano SM de Literatura Infantil y Juvenilin 2012 and the Amnesty/CILIP Honour for Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists in 2018. She has longstanding links to IBBY in Mexico and the UK, and has hosted IBBY exhibitions at the University of Glasgow. Evelyn was a member of the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Jury.

Brenda Dales taught literature for young people and literacy courses at Miami University (Ohio, USA) for several years, and since 2020 has been an independent scholar and Professor Emerita. After earning her BS in 1971, she taught at a public school in Trenton, Ohio, for several years. She has been a reviewer of literature for young people and has presented nationally and internationally.

During her doctoral studies she was introduced to IBBY, and after attending a USBBY conference she joined and continues to be enamoured with international literature. Brenda has been a member of many committees that are focussed on international children’s literature including the USBBY Outstanding International Books Committee, and the ALSC/ALA Notable Children’s Books Committee. She has also been a member of the ALA Caldecott Award Committee, and the 2021 Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava international jury.

Participating in curating and organizing the 2018 special exhibition of original children's picture book art created by, and about, African-Americans for the Miami University (Ohio) Art Museum was among her favourite projects. She remains deeply involved in children's literature research and scholarship.

Sabine Fuchs developed an interest in children’s literature from her studies in theology and German literature in Graz, Austria. She obtained her PhD from TU Berlin, writing her thesis about Christine Nöstlinger. She worked as a researcher and teacher specialising in children’s and youth literature at the University of Graz, and was also a teacher in several secondary schools. In addition, she organized multiple cultural and scientific events. From 2013 until her retirement in 2022, she was professor for children’s and youth literature and didactics at the University College of Teacher Education Styria in Graz. There she founded and directed the KiJuLit Centre of Research and Didactics of Children’s and Youth Literature.

Sabine regularly publishes articles and gives lectures on Austrian youth literature and didactics. She is particularly interested in multimodality in picture books, graphic novels and hybrid texts. She has been active within IBBY for over 20 years, serving as liaison officer for IBBY Austria, attending IBBY congresses, and helping to organise IBBY Europe regional meetings.

She served as member of the Hans Christian Andersen Jury for the 2012 and 2014 awards.

Diana Laura Kovach studied Literature and Modern Letters at the University of Buenos Aires, and graduated as a teacher of literature. Since then, she has devoted herself to teaching in middle schools located in vulnerable areas of Buenos Aires Province, where she focusses on literature for children and young people. In 2021, she obtained a PhD degree from the National Institute for Teachers’ Training (INFOD) as a specialist in schools and digital communities. In addition, she has attended numerous courses and seminars in children’s and young people’s literature. Since 2010, Diana has taught teachers at the Instituto de Formación specialising in literature for young people. She served as a jury member for the Vivalectura Award organized by the Santillana Foundation in 2018 and 2019.

She is currently a member of the Children’s and Young People Book Fair Committee at the Fundación El Libro de Buenos Aires and since 2015, she has been a member of the executive board of ALIJA, the Argentinian section of IBBY.

Shereen Kreidieh holds a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the American University in Beirut, a teaching diploma in early childhood education from the Lebanese American University, a Master’s degree in children’s literature from the University of Surrey Roehampton, and a PhD in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University. In 1998, Shereen established and continues to manage Dar Asala publishing house in Beirut, which produces high quality children’s books in Arabic.

She is a member of several organizations in Lebanon and abroad, including the International Research Society for Children's Literature. Shereen is currently the president of the Lebanese Board of Books for Young People (LBBY), as well as a lecturer of children's literature and social work at Haigazian University in Lebanon. She is a member of the Book and Reading Promotion Committee within the Ministry of Culture in Lebanon.

Shereen served as a member of the Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury for the 2018 award. In addition, she regularly participates in tours and seminars that discuss the issues of publishing and children’s books.

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer is a professor in the German Department at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany. She was a guest professor at the University of Växjö, Sweden (2010) and the University of Vienna (2010–2011). An active children’s literature scholar for thirty years, she has written four monographs and co-edited more than twenty collections (in English and German) on international children’s literature, picturebook research, children’s films, emergent literacy, canon processes in the realm of children’s literature, and the relationship between children’s literature and the Avant-garde.

She is co-editor of two book series, Children’s Literature, Culture and Cognition and European Studies for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Bettina follows current trends in children’s book publishing in several major languages, including German, English, French, Italian and Swedish. In 1999 and 2002, she was a member of the jury for the Sonderpreis für das Gesamtwerk eines/r kinderliterarischen Übersetzers/Übersetzerin (Special Prize for the Complete Work of a Children’s Literature Translator), within the framework of Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Award), the second term as jury chair. 

Jaana Pesonen is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education at the University of Helsinki. Her teaching and research emphasis has been on language and literature, social justice, gender sensitivity, critical literacies, intercultural education, and anti-racism, and most recently on refugee narratives. Throughout these themes, her focus has been on picture books and illustration as well as the benefits of reading in early childhood. Her most recent research includes looking at inclusion through literature and non-normative families in picture books. Jaana also writes about ecological questions in Finnish children’s and young adult literature, thus raising awareness. She has taken part in multiple international seminars and conferences in this field as well as research projects in Finland and abroad and published articles in Finnish and international journals.

An active member of IBBY Finland, she has led the reviews committee for IBBY collections and awards and other nominations such as for the ALMA. Jaana was a member of the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury.

Tan Fengxia is professor of literature at Nanjing Normal University in China and is the current executive director of the Center for Contemporary Children’s and Young Adult Literature. She has been focusing on children’s literature for over twenty years and has gained broad international academic experience in this field. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge, the International Youth Library in Munich, Macquarie University and the Illinois State University. Her research areas include children’s and young adult literature, picture books, films, modern Chinese literature and comparative literature. She is the author of Writing on Childhood in Modern Chinese Literature; Study on Chinese and Western Children’s Literature, amongst others. She also published novels and other children’s books, and has translated English children’s books into Chinese. One of her current research projects is Trauma and Healing: Reading International Children’s Books on War and Peace, with support from the Shenzhen iRead Foundation. She is co-editing the translation series, Foreign Study on Children’s Literature in the 21^st Century with Karen Coats at the University of Cambridge.

She has served as jury member for several children’s literature awards and devotes herself to promoting children’s reading.

Pavle Učakar graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana in 1976, and gained his Master’s in Fine Arts in 1979 at the same university. Upon completing his studies, he found a job as art editor at Partizanska Knjiga publishing house. He also painted and exhibited his work in various galleries in Slovenia and abroad. In 1983, he was invited to become art editor at Mladinska Knjiga publishing house. For a while he combined his publishing work and artist’s activities, however after a few years he decided to abandon his studio work and devote himself entirely to editing every book that contained illustration at the publishing house. He supervised the publication of thousands of books, organized over three hundred exhibitions of original illustrations and has written numerous specialist articles on illustration. He retired in 2020.

In 2021, he received the Schwentner Award for lifetime achievement. This is the highest award in Slovenia in publishing, and it was bestowed for his important contribution to the development of publishing and bookselling, as well as for his excellence in transcending the norm with success, innovation and creativity.

Morgane Vasta is a book professional, children’s animator and university teacher. After receiving a diploma as a bookseller and working for several years as a children's department manager, in 2012, she became an independent mediator specialising in children's literature.

Currently, she trains librarians and shares reviews about novels and documentaries for children. She also runs workshops for teenagers that nurtures thier enthusiasm for writing and reading. After gaining a master's degree in children’s literature, Morgane Vasta was an associate researcher at the Bibliothèque nationale de France from 2015 to 2017. She has published articles on the challenges of translation and the diversity of representations in literature. She currently teaches courses on novels for teens and transmedia development in fiction at the University of Sorbonne Paris Nord. She is a member of the association Lecture Jeunesse, which studies the reading practices of teenagers, and the French Association of Research on Books and Cultural Objects of Childhood (Afreloce).

As a member of IBBY France, Morgane is interested in the way stories and illustrations for children can bridge different cultures. She has participated in the development of bibliographies and enjoys visiting other sections of IBBY when she travels.