Virginia Hamilton
Receives 1992 Hans Christian Andersen Award

Excerpted from the U.S. Section of the International Board of Books for Young People (USBBY)

Spring 1992 Special Issue Newsletter

Virginia Hamilton, United States author, has been named winner of the 1992 Hans Christian Andersen Award for writing. The prestigious prize, given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), to an author or illustrator living at the time of the nominations, is for the body of work. The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the most important international award in children’s literature. An international jury of eight members, elected by the IBBY Executive Committee, select an author and an illustrator who, by the outstanding value of their work, has made a lasting contribution to literature for children.

Each national section of IBBY may nominate one candidate for writing and one for illustrations. The field of contenders for the prizes of this biennial was unusually large, with eighteen authors and twenty illustrators. Twenty-two countries were represented. The United States nominee for illustration for 1992 is Ed Young. Virginia Hamilton was selected as the winner from among 18 countries that made nominations for the award.

Ms. Hamilton, the first United States Hans Christian Andersen Award winner since 1978, said of the award, “I’m thrilled. I feel very grateful that the international community finds my work worthy of this award. I am pleased because, by selecting me, they have affirmed their interest in multicultural concerns and their support for cultural diversity. I hope to continue writing good books for some time to come. This is a culmination of twenty-five years of my career.