Marit Törnqvist awarded 2016 grant by Astrid Lindgren’s World

Author, set designer and illustrator Marit Törnqvist is awarded the 2016 grant of 30,000 SEK by Astrid Lindgren’s World.

The Programme Council’s reason for this year’s grant:

Astrid Lindgren’s World’s 2016 grant was awarded to Marit Törnqvist because of the humour and warmth with which she has illustrated many of Astrid Lindgren’s stories and captured their playfulness, melancholy and strength in a true way. Marit was also awarded the grant for her work in 2016 that contributed to enriching and making life easier for refugee families in camps in Sweden by distributing Astrid Lindgren’s book translated into Arabic.

“Sunnanäng is about two vulnerable children who have lost everything,” says Marit Törnqvist, “but it is also about the hope of finding a way back to love, security, freedom and happiness. Handing out this particular book to tens of thousands of children suffering from the effects of war felt like a small step in the right direction, because we all know that our childhood has a huge effect on what we manage in our later lives. Naturally, it is our duty to show human kindness during this refugee crisis, but I also see it as a chance to show who we are,” concludes Marit Törnqvist.

Astrid Lindgren’s World awards the grant every year to a person or organisation that uses his/her/its knowledge and power in the spirit of Pippi Longstocking to help children and to make them happy. The grant is for 30,000 SEK and will be awarded at a performance in Astrid Lindgren’s World during the Swedish autumn school holidays, on Saturday, 5 November.

The recipient of the grant is chosen by the company’s programme council, which consists of relatives and friends of Astrid Lindgren. They are Astrid Lindgren’s daughter Karin Nyman, Astrid Lindgren’s grandson Nils Nyman, author and journalist Margareta Strömstedt, publisher Marianne Ericsson, Barbro Alvtegen, Leif Ruhnström and the company MD Joacim Johansson.