Opportunities
Grants and Funding
PEN Translates!
English PEN has launched a major new fund for literary translation. PEN Translates! is backed by Arts Council England and will distribute £120,000 per year to translators and publishers. The initiative will support up to 20 works of outstanding literary merit translated from any world language. Applications are open to all literary genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays. The fund is open to submissions from all UK-based publishers.
PEN Translates! – Call For Assessors
PEN Translates! is also looking for Assessors from a wide range of languages to help choose which books have the right combination of literary quality, strength of publishing project and contribution to cultural diversity. You’ll need experience within the publishing / translation field, as well as specialist linguistic and cultural knowledge of the relevant country. Assessors will be paid a fee of £80 per application assessed.
All enquiries are welcome. To find out more, please contact mazin@englishpen.org, or apply by sending your CV and stating your language/s.
Translating from Lithuanian
Publishers can apply for grants to partly or totally cover translation costs. Funding will be given for fiction, children’s literature and works in the humanities.
Books from Lithuania has also launched a new programme for sample translations. Translators, publishers and Lithuanian writers are eligible to apply.
More about funding for translations of Lithuanian literature
Translating from Russian into English
Academia Rossica and the Russkiy Mir foundation (Moscow) run a funding programme to encourage the translation of Russian literature into English. Grants cover up to 100% of translation costs. The aim of the programme is to give English-speaking readers access to the vibrant contemporary Russian literature scene. The programme will also support translations of Russian classics that are not available in English.
Contact rossica-prize@academia-rossica.org for further information
Translating from German into English
The Goethe-Institut’s translation grant programme Translations of German books into other languages provides support to non-German publishers with the publication of translated German titles. This includes academic contributions, fiction literature for children and young adults and selected non-fiction works.
More about funding for translations of German literature
Publishers who have acquired the translation rights to a work of literature by an Austrian writer can apply to the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture for a translation grant.
More about funding for translations of Austrian literature
Translating from Swiss languages into English
Publishers who have acquired the translation rights to a work of literature by a Swiss writer can apply to Pro Helvetia, the Swiss arts council, for a translation grant.
More about funding for translations of Swiss literature
Translation grants from the Irish Literature Exchange
ILE’s translation grants are available to international publishers who are seeing support for translations of Irish literature and to Irish publishers for translations of literature into English or Irish.
More about funding opportunities from ILE
Translating from Swedish
The Swedish Arts Council offer opportunities for funding for the translation of Swedish books and plays. Application deadlines 1 May and 1 November each year.
More about funding for translations from Swedish
Translating from from Finnish (including Finland-Swedish)
The Finnish Literature Exchange offer funding for translations of fiction, poetry and children’s picture books. Application deadlines 1 April and 1 November each year.
More about funding for translations from Finnish
EU Grants for Literary Translation
The European Union’s Culture Programme (2007-2013) contains a financial strand dedicated to supporting literary translation, with the aim of enabling the widest possible dissemination of European literature. Grants from 2,000 to 60,000 EUR are available for publishing houses or publishing groups for the translation of fiction in all its forms including novels, short stories, comic strips, plays and poetry.
More about EU grants for literary translation
Arts Council England
Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts programme helps artists and arts organisations in England carry out their work, including funding translation costs for specific projects.
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Sebald Lecture
Sean O’Brien gave the 2012 Sebald Lecture at Kings Place on Monday 6 February.
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