South Korea's Lee Geum-yi vies for historic children's literature prize

South Korean author Lee Geum-yi has been shortlisted for the 2025 Hans Christian Andersen Award. The prestigious prize honours writers and illustrators who have made lasting contributions to children's literature. Winners will be announced on 13 April at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy. Lee, now 64, has spent over 40 years as a novelist, focusing on stories for young readers. Her career began more than three decades ago with her debut work. Since then, she has built a reputation for crafting tales that resonate with children and teenagers.

Her submitted works for this year's award include Can't I Go Instead, The Picture Bride, One Night, Bamti Village Marie's House, and B-cut for you. These join a longer list of notable titles such as With Yeonggu and Heukgu, You Too Are a Twilight Lily, Yujin and Yujin, and Sohee's Room. Many of her books have reached audiences across Asia, the English-speaking world, Russia, and the Middle East.

This marks Lee's second time on the award's shortlist. The Hans Christian Andersen Award, given every two years, evaluates creators based on their entire body of work. Translations of their books—even in languages other than English—are considered in the selection process. The final decision will be revealed at one of the world's largest children's book events. If selected, Lee Geum-yi would become the first South Korean writer to win the award. Her stories have already connected with young readers in multiple countries and languages.