Motivation for the nomination of the author... Email: kyklos@greekibby.gr www.greekibby.gr ANGELIKI VARELLA The Administrative Board of the Greek National Section of IBBY has unanimously selected the author Angeliki Varella to be nominated as a 2005 Greek candidate for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. This decision has been motivated by the high artistic quality of Ms Varella's writing for children, which is in full accordance with the humanistic spirit associated with Astrid Lindgren, as it is clearly portrayed in Dr. Vasilis Anagnostopoulos's (Professor at the University of Thessalia) report, reading as follows:          Greek Literature for children and young people began to came to into its own in the 1960's. The middle of the decade saw the emergence of the talent of Angeliki Varella. Through her books and her multiple social activities, she has won a place in the conscience of children as well as in the minds of educated adults as an essential and dynamic force in the field of arts and letters generally, and in children's literature in particular.    What typifies Angeliki Varella, both as a human being and as  a writer, is the generosity and sweetness of her writing, her simplicity and consistency, her love of children and her knowledge of their psychology, her ease of communication with her fellow man, her deep faith in life itself. All these qualities are linked by a common theme of indomitable dedication and devotion in several fields: literature, education and society.    She is also the president of the judges' Committee of The Women's Literary Society, reviewing the merits of the submissions to their annual competitions; a member of the Greek Children's Book Circle; of the National Society for Greek Literature; the Greek Section of IBBY; and the Editorial Board of Diadromes (Routes for Literature for children and young adults). At the same time, she also finds time to attend conferences and seminars on children's literature and has herself given numerous lectures on the subject in elementary and high schools.    Her work encompasses four types of books: purely literary works, books of knowledge, elementary school readers and translations. Her writing activity displays a tireless effort, a multi-faceted dedication and an intense interest in cultivating an aesthetic awareness in children and in their education, Within this framework, she has always encouraged reading outside school-bringing into her books themes of universal appeal-while at the same time revising both the content and appearance of school readers.    Her books mainly deal with such topics as history and archeology, contemporary society, the natural environment, books of games and puzzles, as well as fictional books. Her writing is outstanding for its refreshing and elegant air, its rich, cultivated vocabulary, its humor and subtle irony, its sense lyricism, the balance between the real and the imaginary.    In brief, we may well maintain that Angeliki Varella belongs to those forces which are constantly on the alert on behalf of children's literature and that she is continuously enriching books for children and young people with her life-giving light and spirit. Athens, May 2004 Loty Petrovits President