The list of 263 candidates from 74 countries and regions, including authors, illustrators, storytellers, and reading promoters, was announced today at the Frankfurt Book Fair by the Swedish Arts Council and is available on the official award website.
For the 2026 edition, there are eight nominees from Portugal: illustrators André Letria, Catarina Sobral, Madalena Matoso, and Mariana Rio, all previously nominated for the award, writers Cristina Carvalho, José Jorge Letria, and Mafalda Cordeiro, and reading promoter Cristina Taquelim.
The ALMA, an initiative of the Swedish Arts Council, carries a monetary prize of over 430,000 euros, making it the most prestigious global award in the field of children’s and youth literature.
The Portuguese candidates are proposed by the Directorate-General for Books, Archives and Libraries (DGLAB) and, as of this year, by the Arte-Via Cooperative, promoter of the International Literary Festival of the Interior “Palavras de Fogo,” and the Portuguese section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), an international council for children’s and youth books comprised of 84 national sections worldwide.
The winner of the ALMA 2026 will be announced on April 14.
This year, the ALMA prize was awarded to French author Marion Brunet, known for works such as ‘Frangine,’ her debut in 2013, ‘La Gueule du loup,’ ‘Vanda,’ and ‘Ilos,’ which remain unpublished in the Portuguese market.
