Bursaries, fellowships, travel grants and other opportunities for translators
The Czech Literary Centre is a state-funded organisation supporting and promoting Czech literature abroad and in the Czech Republic, and providing information on authors, books and translation grants offered by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic to foreign publishers. The centre also runs residencies for international writers and translators of Czech literature. The centre is a section of the Moravian Library.
The Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Literature runs a number of international funding programmes. These funding programmes are intended for publishers, translators, foreign institutions and authors seeking funding for trips or translation of work in connection with specific literary projects. More information can be found here.
Books from Denmark gives you an overview of current Danish titles selected by the foundation, which are intended for the international book market. Find out more here.
English PEN is the founding centre of PEN International, the worldwide fellowship of writers promoting free expression. Through its campaigns and programmes, English PEN promotes the freedom to write and the freedom to read. Internationally, English PEN campaigns on behalf of persecuted writers, editors and publishers. In the UK, it campaigns to reform laws that curb free expression, and for greater access to literature. It runs a number of programmes for creative writing and translation and a busy events programme. http://www.englishpen.org
Grants from English PEN
PEN Promotes (formerly known as Writers in Translation) has been promoting literature in translation since 2005 and is supported by Bloomberg. Each year, a dedicated committee of professionals selects between 8-10 books that are translated into English from a wide variety of foreign languages. English PEN awards grants to UK publishers to help promote, market and champion these titles. Its aim is to celebrate books of outstanding literary value, which show a dedication to free speech and intercultural understanding, and therefore have a clear link to the PEN charter.
PEN Translates! is English PEN’s new grants scheme for translation. Launched in 2012 at the London Book Fair, this unique new fund is open to submissions from all UK-based publishers. Building on the success of English PEN’s Writers in Translation programme, it is committed to supporting works of outstanding literary merit, strong and innovative publishing projects and diverse writing from around the world.
The Etxepare Basque Institute’s mission is to promote Basque language and culture around the world, including the promotion and support of translations of Basque literature into other languages and collaborations with organisations dedicated to the diffusion of Basque culture.
The EBI issues grants for the promotion of Basque literature, translation of works and travel for writers.
The Polish Cultural Institutes in the UK and US, in co-operation with the Polish Book Institute, run an annual prize for the translation of a book from Polish ‘Found in Translation’. More information on the regulations of the prize is available at http://www.polishculture.org.uk
The Icelandic Literature Center offers grants to foreign publishers for translations from Icelandic. Grants are available for fiction (prose, poetry and drama), non-fiction of general interest, comic books and children’s books.
Applications can only be made after the foreign publisher has acquired the work and signed a contract with the translator. Applications can be made to cover all or part of the translation fee; grants will usually only cover a part of the fee. Applications are assessed on the quality of the work to be translated, and the qualifications of the translator. The deadlines for applications each year are 15th February and 15th September.
The Jan Michalski Prize for Literature is attributed each year by the Jan Michalski Foundation (based in Switzerland) to a work of world literature. An original feature of the prize is its multicultural nature. It is open to authors from the world over and is intended to contribute to their international recognition. The prize will be awarded for works of fiction or non fiction, irrespective of the language in which they are written. The winner will receive an amount of CHF 50,000, offering the possibility of greater dedication to his or her art. The authors of short-listed works will be invited for a three-month period of residence at the Maison de l’Ecriture.
The Foundation also promotes and supports literary projects, particularly through the granting of financial support. Find out more at: http://www.fondation-janmichalski.com/en/bourses/.
Literature Ireland’s translation grant programme allows international publishers to apply for a contribution towards the cost of the translator of a work of Irish literature from English or Irish into another language, with three application deadlines per year. For guidelines and online application form visit: https://www.literatureireland.com/grants/translation-grant-programme/
Literature Ireland, formerly known as Ireland Literature Exchange, promotes Irish writers and writing internationally. It does this through its translation grant, translator development, literature events and book fair programmes.
Funded by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council, Literature Ireland is a proud partner in the Trinity Centre for Literary Translation.
A list of bursaries, stipends, prizes and other funds for translators of German literature can be found at Literaturport.
