The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, administered by the Swedish Arts Council, is presented every year. The award money is SEK 5 million (approx. 500,000 Euro), making it the largest international children’s and young adult literature award in the world. The award is presented to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters.

Petr Nikl (b. 1960) is an artist, writer, illustrator, musician and dramatist. He studied at the secondary school of applied arts in Uherské Hradiště and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In 1995 he received the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, the most important Czech art prize for young artists. He has also demonstrated his linguistic talents as a dramatist and a puppeteer. Nikl thinks of himself as a ‘multidisciplinary clown’.