EACEA inviting Proposals for Supporting Literary Translation Projects

Deadline: 4 June 2019

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is inviting proposals for Supporting Literary Translation Projects to improve access to the literary works in the EU and beyond.

Objectives

The main objectives of the support for literary translation projects are:

• to support cultural and linguistic diversity in the EU and in other countries participating in the Culture Sub-programme of the Creative Europe Programme;
• to strengthen the transnational circulation and diversity of high quality literary works in the long term;
• to reach new audiences for quality literary translated works.

Priorities

The priorities of the support for literary translation projects are:

• supporting the promotion of European translated literature;
• encouraging the translations from lesser used languages2
• into English, German, French and Spanish (Castilian) as these may contribute to a wider circulation of the works;
• encouraging the translation of less represented genres such as works for a younger public (children, adolescents and young adults), comics/graphic novels, short stories or poetry;
• encouraging the appropriate use of digital technologies in both the distribution and promotion of the works;
• encouraging the translation and promotion of books which have won the EU Prize for Literature; and raising the profile of translators.

Budget

• The total budget available for the 2019 Call is estimated at 2.5 Million €.
• The financial contribution of the European Union per application may not exceed 100.000 € and 50% of the total eligible costs, whichever is lower.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants:
  • must be publishers or publishing houses established in one of the countries participating in the Culture Sub-programme who have had a legal personality and are active in the publishing sector for at least 2 years on the date of the deadline for submission of applications.
  • must not be in a situation that will exclude them from participation and/or from award as defined by the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union and its rules of application.
• Eligible Countries: Applications from legal entities established in one of the following country categories are eligible as long as all conditions referred to in Article 8 of Regulation are met and the Commission has entered into negotiations with the country:
  • The 28 Member States of the European Union and the overseas countries and territories eligible to participate in the Programme.
  • The candidate and potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia;
  • The EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland and Norway;
  • Countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy: Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Tunisia, Armenia and Kosovo.
• Eligible projects
  • In 2019 applicants can apply for projects which fulfil the following conditions:
    • have a maximum duration of 2 years (eligibility period); the proposed eligibility period of the submitted project cannot overlap with the eligibility period of another project from the same beneficiary, selected and contracted under any previous call of the Creative Europe literary translation scheme.
    • are the subject of an application requesting no more than EUR 100 000, representing a maximum of 50% of the total eligible budget;
    • consist in the translation and promotion of a package of 3 to 10 eligible works of fiction from and into eligible languages;
    • are based on a strategy for the translation, publication, distribution and promotion of the translated package of works of fiction.
• Eligible languages
  • The source language and target language must be officially recognised languages of one of the eligible countries. “Officially recognised languages” are those defined by the Constitution or the relevant national law of the respective country;
  • In addition, in order to facilitate the circulation of work from or to EU/EFTA countries
    • the source language or the target language must be a language officially recognised in one of the EU or EFTA countries (Norway and Iceland)
    • the translation and distribution of works between non EU/EFTA countries are not eligible.
  • Translations out of Latin and ancient Greek (source language) into officially recognised languages are also eligible;
  • The target language must be the translator’s mother tongue (except in cases of less frequently spoken languages if the applicant provides sufficient explanation);
  • Translations must have a cross-border dimension. Hence the translation of national literature from one official language into another official language within the same country is not eligible.
• Eligible works
  • Works in paper, or digital format (e-books) and audio books are both eligible;
  • The works to be translated and promoted must be works of fiction with a high literary value, irrespective of their literary genre, such as novels, short stories, plays, poetry, comic books and children’s fiction;
  • Non-fiction works are not eligible, such as: autobiographies or biographies or essays without fictional elements; tourist guides; human science works (such as history, philosophy, economy, etc.) and works related to other sciences (such as physics, mathematics, etc.);
  • The works must have been previously published;
  • The works must be written by authors who are nationals of, or residents in, an eligible country with the exception of works written in Latin or ancient Greek;
  • The works must not have been previously translated into the target language, unless a new translation corresponds to a clearly assessed need. In any case applicants must explain the expected impact on new readers and provide a convincing explanation of the need for a new translation into the specific target language.
• Eligible activities
  • Eligible activities are the translation, publication, distribution and promotion of a package of eligible works of fiction with a high literary value, irrespective of their literary genre, such as novels, short stories, plays, poetry, comic books and children’s fiction.
  • Activities can include special events and marketing/distribution organised for the promotion of the translated works of fiction in the EU and outside the EU, including digital promotion tools and promotion of authors at book fairs and literary festivals.
  • As a complement to the package, projects can also include the partial translation (translation of excerpts of works of fiction) from the catalogues of the applicant to help foster the selling of rights either within Europe or beyond.

How to Apply

Interested applicant can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe/funding/support-to-literary-translation-projects-2019_en