Suzy Lee wins Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustrations

Suzy Lee, 48, became the first Korean to win the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award (HCAA) for lifetime achievement in illustrating children's books. The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) declared Lee the winner in the..

Suzy Lee at her office in Gwangjin District, easten Seoul, during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo [JOONGANG ILBO]

Suzy Lee, 48, became the first Korean to win the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award (HCAA) for lifetime achievement in illustrating children's books.

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) declared Lee the winner in the HCAA’s illustration section during the opening ceremony of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair held in Bologna, Italy on Monday.

The HCAA is sometimes called the Nobel Prize of children’s literature. The top two prizes are for authors and illustrators. This year's award for lifetime achievement in writing children's books went to French writer Marie-Aude Murail, best-known for "Oh, boy!" (2000) and "Simple" (2004).

“It is such a big award so I haven’t been able to process it yet,” Lee told the local news agency Yonhap.

Lee competed against veteran illustrators from around the world including Beatrice Alemagna from Italy, Ryoji Arai from Japan, Iwona Chmielewska from Poland and Sydney Smith from Canada.

She made it onto the shortlist for the award in 2016 but did not win.

Founded in 1956, the HCAA is named after the 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It gives awards every two years.

Winners of the 2020 HCAA were U.S. author Jacqueline Woodson and Swiss illustrator Albertine Zullo. Previous winners of the award for authors include Astrid Lindgren, author of “Pippi Longstocking” (1948) and Anthony Browne, author of “Gorilla” (1983).

Lee’s latest book is “Summer,” which was published in July 2021. Inspired by “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi, it tells a story of children playing with water outside during the summer.

The book is comprised of 148 pages filled with pictures and short lyric-like writings that sporadically appear written by Lee. It also has a QR code inside the book that connects a reader to music by Vivaldi to listen to while reading the book.

Last month, the book was selected for a special mention at the BolognaRagazzi Award, another prestigious award in children’s publishing.

“Summer” has been published in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and China.

Cover of the book "Summer" (2021) by Suzy Lee [ILGAN SPORTS]

With a 21-year career illustrating children’s books, Lee’s books “Wave” (2009) and “Shadow” (2010) were included in the New York Times’ lists of Best Illustrated Children’s Books. “The Yulu Linen" (2020) co-written with Chinese author Cao Wenxuan, received the BolognaRagazzi Award in 2020.

Also, her “Alice in Wonderland” (2015), inspired by "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, is part of the Tate Modern’s book collection.

The HCAA award ceremony will take place in September in Malaysia.

Lee earned a bachelor’s degrees in western painting at Seoul National University in 1996 and a masters in book art at the Camberwell College of Arts in the UK in 2001.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]