Author Katherine Paterson accepts Astrid Lindgren literature award

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Stockholm (dpa) - American author Katherine Paterson received Wednesday the 2006 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for her stories about "vulnerable young people."

Crown Princess Victoria handed over the prize, worth 5 million kronor (680,000 dollars), at a ceremony at the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm.

The jury cited Paterson as "a brilliant psychologist who gets right under the skin of the vulnerable young people she creates, whether in historical or exotic settings, or in the grim reality of the United States today."

Paterson, born 1932 in China as the daughter of an American missionary, was selected among 137 candidates from 55 countries.

The prize was created in memory of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, creator of numerous popular fiction characters including Pippi Longstocking. Lindgren died in 2002 aged 94.

During her stay in the Swedish capital, Paterson has held lectures and attended book signings and was later this week to visit Lindgren's childhood home in Vimmerby, southern Sweden.

Paterson trained as a missionary in Japan before moving to the US where she began to write. Her works include picture books and books for the very young, often based around fairytales and myths, but the jury said she is best known for her novels for young readers.

Among her works are The Great Gilly Hopkins about an 11-year-old girl; Jip, His Story (1996) about a young farmhand, and her 1973 fictional debut Sign Of The Chrysanthemum about a 13-year-old boy's search for his father in 12th century Japan.

Her books have been translated into Dutch, French, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

The 2005 award was shared by Japanese illustrator Ryôji Arai and British author Philip Pullman.

Brazilian author Lygia Bojunga won in 2004, while Austrian author Christine Nostlinger and US author and illustrator Maurice Sendak shared the prize when it was first awarded in 2003.