Predecessor | Indigenous Literacy Project |
---|---|
Formation | 2011 |
Founder | Suzy Wilson |
Type | Nonprofit |
Purpose | literacy for Indigenous children and young people |
Headquarters | Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia |
Co-Chairperson | Marnie O'Bryan |
Co-Chairperson | Tony Dreise |
Key people | Ben Bowen, Chief Executive Officer Mike Milnes, Chief Operating Officer |
Award(s) | Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, 2024 |
Website | https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au |
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is an Australian not-for-profit founded in 2011 that works to address the educational disadvantages faced by Indigenous Australian children and young people by providing access to books and literacy programs.
ILF was set up in 2011, taking over from the Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) which had been associated with The Fred Hollows Foundation. In 2010 the ILP had raised $607,000. [1] Juliet Rogers, formerly CEO of Murdoch Books, was the inaugural chair. [2]
Patrons of the ILF, as of 2021, [3] are Quentin Bryce AD CVO (appointed February 2015) [4] and June Oscar AO (appointed September 2019). [5]
Lifetime ambassadors of the ILF include Justine Clarke, Andy Griffiths, Kate Grenville, Anita Heiss, Alison Lester, David Malouf and Josh Pyke. [3]
In September 2021 Karen Williams, who had been member of the ILP and executive director of the ILF, stepped down [6] and was replaced by Ben Bowen as Chief Executive Officer, with Mike Milnes appointed Chief Operating Officer. [7]
The ILF won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2024. [8] It was one of several Australian nominees for this award in both 2021 and 2022. [9] [10]
Each year the ILF organises and promotes Indigenous Literacy Day, held on Wednesday in the first week of September. [11]
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, and the Six Bullerby Children, and for the children's fantasy novels Mio, My Son; Ronia the Robber's Daughter; and The Brothers Lionheart. Lindgren worked on the Children's Literature Editorial Board at the Rabén & Sjögren publishing house in Stockholm and wrote more than 30 books for children. In 2017, she was calculated to be the world's 18th most translated author. Lindgren had by 2010 sold roughly 167 million books worldwide. In 1994, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her unique authorship dedicated to the rights of children and respect for their individuality". Her opposition to corporal punishment of children resulted in the world's first law on the matter in 1979, while her campaigning for animal welfare led to a new law, Lex Lindgren, in time for her 80th birthday.
Neville Thomas Bonner AO was an Australian politician, and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of Queensland in the Senate, and later became the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the parliament by popular vote. Neville Bonner was an elder of the Jagera people. In 2024, the bridge connecting Brisbane’s star casino to Southbank was named after Neville Bonner.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). The prize is five million SEK, making it the richest award in children's literature and one of the richest literary prizes in the world. The annual cost of 10 million SEK is financed with tax money.
Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously the 24th Governor of Queensland from 2003 to 2008.
Christine Nöstlinger was an Austrian writer best known for children's books. She received one of two inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Awards from the Swedish Arts Council in 2003, the biggest prize in children's literature, for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense." She received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for "lasting contribution to children's literature" in 1984 and was one of three people through 2012 to win both of these major international awards.
Sonya Louise Hartnett is an Australian author of fiction for adults, young adults, and children. She has been called "the finest Australian writer of her generation". For her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" Hartnett won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2008, one of the largest cash prizes in children's literature.
Joshua Jon Pyke is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author.
Conor Kostick is a historian and writer living in Dublin. He is the author of many works of history and fiction. A former chairperson of the Irish Writers Union and member of the board of the National Library of Ireland, he has won a number of awards.
Jeannie Baker is an English-born Australian children's picture book author and artist, known for her collage illustrations and her concern for the natural environment. Her books have won many awards.
University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Queensland and a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and includes works for children and young adults.
Michael John Strachan Bryce, was an Australian architect and graphic and industrial designer. He was the husband of the 25th governor-general of Australia, Dame Quentin Bryce.
Deborah Joy Cheetham Fraillon is an Aboriginal Australian soprano, actor, composer, and playwright. She leads Short Black Opera, based in Melbourne, which provides training and opportunities for emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musical artists.
Katha Books is a publishing house owned by Katha, that works in the fields of Indian language translations, community empowerment and child welfare. It was founded in 1988 Geeta Dharmarajan.
Julia Spiridonova (Yulka) (Bulgarian: Юлия Спиридонова (Юлка); born October 30, 1972) is a Bulgarian novelist and a screenwriter. She was born in Sofia into a family of artists. She is the first Bulgarian nominated for the world's highest price for children’s literature, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Research by the I Read Foundation in 27 public libraries in Bulgaria showed that Spiridonova’s books are the most often asked-for and borrowed books. Spiridonova also works as a screenwriter. She is the creator and author of several TV shows and series for children and teenagers. Since 2021 she has lived in the United Kingdom.
The Astrid Lindgren Prize is a Swedish literary award for children's literature named after the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. The prize was instituted by the publishing house Rabén & Sjögren in 1967 to honour Lindgren on her 60th birthday.
Thomas Edwin Calma, is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner, and 2023 senior Australian of the Year. He was the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma was the second Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person to hold the position of chancellor of any Australian university.
Ellen van Neerven is an Aboriginal Australian writer, educator and editor. Their first work of fiction, Heat and Light (2013), won several awards, and in 2019 Van Neerven won the Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Award. Their second collection of poetry, Throat (2020), won three awards at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, including Book of the Year.
Patricia Audrey Anderson is an Australian human rights advocate and health administrator. An Alyawarre woman from the Northern Territory, she is well known internationally as a social justice advocate, advocating for improved health, educational, and protection outcomes for Indigenous Australian children.
Baek Hee-na is a South Korean author of picture books, an illustrator and animator. She writes picture books with characters that have distinct personalities and with charming storytelling based on various illustration production experiences. Her representative work, Magic Candies, was selected as a recommended work and included on the IBBY Honour List in 2018 and produced as a musical in South Korea. Baek is the first South Korean to win the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) in 2020. Her picture books have been translated and published in several languages, including English, German, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish and Norwegian.
The Australian Academy of Law (AAL) is a permanent, non-government organisation devoted to the advancement of the discipline of law. According to its Constitution, the Australian Academy of Law comprises individuals of exceptional distinction from all parts of the legal community, including academia, the practising profession, and the judiciary.