CANVAS nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2025
16 October 2024 - The Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS) has been nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), a global award given annually to a person or organization for their outstanding contribution to children’s and young adult literature. The laureate will be announced in 2025, the same year CANVAS will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Administrated by the Swedish Arts Council, ALMA is the largest award of its kind with a prize of five million Swedish kronor. The current selection includes 265 candidates from 72 countries and regions, with CANVAS as one of the two nominees from the Philippines together with noted children’s book writer Luis Gatmaitan.
CANVAS’ mission to promote children’s literacy is centered around a unique model of collaboration between Filipino artists and writers that has reimagined book publishing in the Philippines, and enabled them to give their picture books to more than 500,000 disadvantaged Filipino children, to date. CANVAS books also explore themes such as human rights, inclusivity, internet safety and dealing with online misinformation, among others. They are helping to foster a generation of empathetic and socially-conscious citizens who are prepared to make our world a better place.
A non-profit that works with the creative community to promote literacy and explore national identity, CANVAS publishes its award-winning children's stories and donates their books to benefit children in public schools and poor communities throughout the Philippines. Its One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children Campaign promotes independent reading and creative thinking in Filipino children, while also exposing them to the best of contemporary Filipino art and literature.
