Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister of New Zealand
Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage
28 March 2006 Media Statement
PM congratulates Margaret Mahy
Prime Minister Helen Clark today congratulated Margaret Mahy on winning the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award.
Helen Clark said the prestigious international award was fitting recognition of a writing career which has spanned
almost half a century and covered fantasy and adventure, junior and adolescent fiction, picture books and poetry.
"Margaret Mahy has brought magic, humour, and joy into many a young life. She has earned a well-deserved international
reputation as an accomplished writer of children's fiction," Helen Clark said.
"Margaret Mahy's enthusiasm for story telling has done much to encourage a love of reading and writing in New Zealand,
and around the world."
The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are presented every two years by IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People)
to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important and lasting contribution to children's
literature.
ENDS