South African organisation wins Swedish award for youth literature

South Africa's Praesa was on Tuesday announced as the winner of the 2015 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children's and young people's literature.
Based in Cape Town, Praesa (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa) is an organization that has worked to promote reading and literature for children and young people in South Africa since 1992.
"Praesa's outstanding work shows the world the crucial role of books and stories in creating rich, full lives for our children and young people," the jury said in a citation.
Praesa focuses on encouraging children to read for enjoyment, building their self-esteem, and helping them connect to their native language through reading and story, the jury added.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 and is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council. The prize is 5 million Swedish kronor (580,000 U.S. dollars).
The award is presented every year at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 1.