The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has won a major international award for children's and young adult literature, worth $725,000.
The Australian not-for-profit won the annual Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's richest children's literary prize, worth 5 million Swedish kronor, at an event in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 9.
The ILF bested 245 shortlisted organisations or authors from 68 countries or regions, including English illustrator Quentin Blake (best known for illustrating Roald Dahl's books) and English author Neil Gaiman (Coraline).
With their win, the ILF joins two past Australian winners of the prize: Shaun Tan (The Lost Thing; The Rabbits) and Sonya Hartnett (The Midnight Zoo).
A 'mind-blowing' win
The award was established in 2002 in honour of author Astrid Lindgren, the creator of Pippi Longstocking, and the ILF has been previously shortlisted twice, in 2017 and 2018.
Founded in 2011, the charity works in collaboration with 427 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia to create culturally safe early learning board books, resources and programs in Indigenous languages.
Swedish writer Boel Westin, chair of the award jury, described ILF's work as "innovative" and "an inspiration for reading promotion work around the world".
ILF CEO Ben Bowen, a descendent of the Wiradjuri Nation with family links to the Gandangara, Dharrawal and Yuin Nations, describes the charity's win as "mind-blowing" and unexpected.
"We believe 100 per cent in the work we do and we love it and we know it's worthy of winning, but a staff of 30 working in Australia winning a global award, it's taken us all aback," he says.
"For such a massive, global presence to be noticing the work that we're doing in this little pocket of the world is pretty amazing."
Bowen stresses the importance of ILF programs being long-running and sustainable — this $725,000 windfall means they can plan well into the future.
"This sort of money gives us that assurance that we can really grow these communities and get them publishing this stuff on their own and really achieving all their aspirations," he says.
Centring culture in publishing
The ILF's work is part of a global movement finally acknowledging the value of First Nations storytelling, Bowen says.
"We're starting to see, in the last 10 years, an acknowledgement of accuracy and value within Indigenous stories around the world. We've gone from having to be validated in our stories by science to understanding that our stories can stand on their own," he says.
"In the literacy space, it's that idea of 'nothing about us, without us'. We don't need editing or polishing of these messages.
"We actually need the right platform to tell them the right way, because that's the most important part of the storytelling."
The recognition of the ILF at an international level, Bowen says, establishes Australia and the ILF as world-leaders in the space of culturally safe and inclusive storytelling.
"The work we're doing with Indigenous populations here in publishing and languages and literacy is what's leading the global market and what they're looking to replicate overseas," he says.
"[We're] centring culture in the production of the books. These books are no longer just a static piece of paper and cardboard. It's turning them into living artefacts of culture … [that] engage our kids with their Elders; bring them back on Country.
"Until we do that [centre culture], the publishing industry more broadly is never going to truly represent our communities."
The acknowledgement of the ILF comes during the United Nations' International Decade of Indigenous Languages, which continues until 2032.
Bowen says that the award acknowledges the work the ILF has done since it was founded by former teacher Suzy Wilson, but also celebrates the many ambassadors, volunteers and donors.
"This award [also] acknowledges all the community members who have trusted us with their stories and worked with us and spent hours on the phone back and forth to get us to understand an idea," he says.
"This award is capturing that whole legacy that is the ILF."