TRANSLATION Apply for a grant!

If you are a children's book translator, have you thought of applying for a grant? Quite a few countries and organizations, wanting to encourage a better knowledge of their culture, fund grants for translation, including children's book translation. 





Many of these grants ask the publisher to apply. However, if you have a translation project you're passionate about, it is worth getting in touch with publishers and mentioning the possibility of a grant that will pay for much of the translation cost. You may find they suddenly become much more interested in your project.



This is just a sampling of the funding that is out there. When looking for grants, think not only of government programmes, often from the cultural ministry, but of writers' and publishers' organizations and private foundations.



Many of these programmes run year-to-year and some may have closed applications for 2023. Keep the link and you may be able to get more information later this year.

 
Belgium

The French-speaking part of Belgium offers translation subsidies to publishers, and also grants and residencies to translators, as well as a summer school to train translators.

So does the Flemish-speaking part.

Brazil

The National Library Foundation of Brazil awards grants every other year for the translation of children's books, among others, from Brazilian Portuguese. [Link in Portuguese]

An association of Brazilian publishers also grants translation funds to foreign publishers for the translation of Brazilian books. "Support for the Translation and Publication of Brazilian Authors is aimed at foreign publishers, who can request support of up to US$8,000 for the translation and publication of works by Brazilian authors. In the case of reissues, support can reach up to US$ 4,000. Over the past 20 years, nearly 700 grants have been awarded to publishers in over 40 countries. Interested parties should send an email to translation@bn.br"

 
France

The French Ministry of Culture offers residential grants for translators living outside of France, whose source language is "one of the languages of France"; however the translator must have had at least one work published professionally outside of France.

Germany
The Goethe Institut has a grant program for publishers of a translation from German books, including children's books. For this grant, the publisher must pay the translator ahead of time, and the grant only reimburses them.

 

Lithuania

The Lithuanian Culture Institute offers publishers grants for translation of Lithuanian books, including children's books.

Netherlands

The private Dutch Foundation for Literature provides publishers with subsidies for translation from Dutch (ranging up to 100% of the cost for books considered classics).

 

Poland
The Polish Ministry of Culture's Book Institute offers a large number of grants for up to 100% of the cost of translation.

Taiwan

The Ministry of Culture sponsors generous grants for publishers to pay for translation of work from Taiwan.

 

U.A.R.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award program provides generous translation grants to publishers for Arabic-language books, including children's books, that have won or been shortlisted for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, into any other world language.


U.K.

English PEN awards grants with the restriction that U.K. publishers, not translators, must apply. The publisher does not need to have acquired the rights in order to apply.


"Books that receive grants will not only contribute to the UK literary landscape’s diversity, but also be outstanding pieces of literature with excellent project and marketing proposals."

 
U.S.A.
The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts provides grants for specific translations by published translators, including people who have been published in "curated" online form (i.e. not self-published). Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S.A. The grants can be considerable, up to $25,000.

More grants

Good luck!

Picture credits

Header Image Jess Stockham

Calendar PNG All

Postcard of Good Luck emblems Wellcome Collection

 

*

Julie Sullivan is a SCBWI volunteer.