EACEA, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, has recently launched a call for proposal in support to literary translation projects under Creative Europe Work Programme.

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 improve access to these literary works in the EU and beyond;

– to reach new audiences for quality literary translated works.

Within the above objectives, the priorities of the support for literary translation projects are:

– supporting the promotion of European translated literature;

– encouraging the translations from lesser used languages 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 adult), 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;

– raising the profile of translators. For that reason, publishers will be required to include a biography of

the translators in each translated book.

Eligible projects

Eligible projects must consist in the translation and promotion (including the publication of a summary of the translated works) of a package of 3 to 10 eligible works of fiction from and into eligible languages. The projects should be based on a strategy for translation, publication, distribution and promotion of the translated works of fiction and have a maximum duration of 2 years (eligibility period).

Requirements concerning the languages should be complied: 

• the source language and target language must be “officially recognised languages” of the countries taking part in the Programme.
• translations out of Latin and ancient Greek into officially recognised languages of in one of the EU/EFTA eligible countries are also eligible;
• the target language must be the translator’s mother tongue (except in cases of less frequently spoken languages);
• translations must have a cross-border dimension.

Works in paper or digital format (e-books) are both eligible provided that they fulfil the other eligibility criteria. 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. The works of fiction must have been previously published and be written by authors who are nationals of or residents in a country taking part in the Programme with the exception of works written in Latin and ancient Greek. The works of fiction must not have been previously translated into the target language.

Eligible activities are the translation, publication, distribution and promotion of a package of eligible works of fiction with a high literary value. Activities can include special events and marketing/distribution organised for the promotion of the translated works 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 translation, publication, distribution and promotion of a package of eligible works, projects can also include the partial translation (translation of excerpts) and promotion of works of fiction from the catalogues of the applicant (not included in the package) to foster the selling of rights either within Europe or beyond.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must be publishers or publishing houses established in one of the countries participating in the Culture Sub-programme and  which are active in the publishing sector and which have had a legal personality for at least 2 years on the date of the deadline for submission of applications.

Budget

The total budget available for the 2017 Call is estimated at 2 M. €.

The financial contribution of the European Union per application may not exceed 100.000 € or 50% of the

total eligible costs, whichever is lower.

The submission deadline for Literary translation projects is Tuesday 25 July 2017 12:00 (Brussels time).

Further information and official documents for submissions are available here