Illustrator Suzy Lee (48), the author of Summer, became the first Korean to win the Hans Christian Andersen Award (Andersen Award), the “Nobel Prize for Children’s Books” on March 21 (local time).

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) announced Lee as the winner of the illustration section for the Andersen Award at a press conference for the opening of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair held in Italy that day.

Lee won this award after competing with finalists from Japan, Poland, Argentina, Canada, and Italy.

Lee was a finalist for this section in 2016 but was unsuccessful in winning the award.

The Andersen Award was founded in 1956 to commemorate Hans Christen Andersen, the nineteenth-century Danish children’s author. This award is considered the world’s most prestigious award in children’s literature.

The IBBY presents this award biennially to one writer and illustrator for their “lasting contribution to children’s literature.”

Lee graduated from the Department of Painting in 1996 and completed her master’s degree in illustration at Camberwell College of Arts in the United Kingdom in 2001.

She then began her career as an illustrator of children’s books and received international recognition.

Her major works include River, Lines, Mirror, Wave, Shadow, The Zoo, Dream of Becoming Water, and The Yulu Linen.

Illustrator Suzy Lee, the First Korean to Win the Andersen Award, the Nobel Prize for Children’s Books (news1.kr)