Literary production and translation

Deadline: 03.09.2024, 2:00 PM

Publishing and translation support for literary works (books, e-books, drama, literary podcasts etc.) for adults, children and young adults.

Nordic publishers: please apply to the fund ‘Nordiske oversættelser/Nordic translations’

Det er ikke desværre ikke muligt at ansøge på mobilen med vores nuværende løsning.
Note:

This programme has two annual deadlines. The deadlines in 2024 are February 6th and September 3rd.

Who may apply?

  • Publishing houses and other publishers of Danish literary works in translation, (organisations etc.)
  • Nordic publishers: please apply to the fund ‘Nordiske oversættelser/Nordic translations’

ATTENTION: Due to an error in the system some of the translation in the application form has been lost.
Download a translated guide for the Grant Portal.

YOU CAN APPLY FOR GRANTS FOR:

  • Publication of literature in various formats translated from Danish. If you are applying for grants to cover both production and translation costs, you must apply in a single, combined application per work.

YOU CANNOT APPLY FOR GRANTS FOR:

  • Individuals cannot apply for support for translation. The support must be applied for by the publishing publisher.
  • Translation of Danish titles to other Nordic languages. Nordic publishers may apply to the Fund for Nordic Translations/ puljen Nordiske Oversættelser for funding to cover fees for translators who translate a work from Danish into another Nordic language
  • Publication of works in which the literature belongs to the realm of research, education, regional and local history, handbooks, self-help and lifestyle books, dictionaries, catalogues, or similar literature.

Purpose of the program

One of the purposes of the Danish Arts Foundation is to promote dissemination of Danish literature abroad. The Committee for Literary Project Funding wants to support the possibilities for relevant Danish works and authorships of high quality to reach the reading public abroad.

How your application will be evaluated?

Formal requirements

In order to apply for support, you must fulfil the following formal requirements:

  • The work must not have been published before the application deadline.
  • Publishers based in Denmark that apply must be able to render probable that the translation will reach its target group through partnerships or a professional distribution network.

Quality

Applications that live up to the formal requirements are assessed based on the artistic quality of the project. The committee assesses the project that is applied for as a whole in order to assess its artistic quality. The committee's assessment of the quality places emphasis on:

  • The literary quality of the publication. When assessing the literary quality, the committee examines artistic and looks for professional and linguistic ability. The willingness to try out new themes and expressions is considered to be positive, just as cultural and societal relevance are.
  • The editorial quality of the publication and the publisher's general professionalism; that is, a deliberate position on the interrelationship between form and content, as well as the quality of the editing, design, production and marketing.
  • In the case of general cultural literature and non-fiction, the committee will also assess whether the work is written so that it communicates broadly and thus may be considered to have a general cultural purpose.
  • The qualifications of the translator; that is, that the translator has experience with translating literature of high quality and can document this.
  • Whether the translator translates into his or her mother tongue and when the translation is directly from Danish.
  • The applicant considers the publication's relevance, current interest and necessity, how the project contributes to strengthening Danish literature abroad and, possibly, how the project is presented to potential readers. 
  • The work's current interest. As a rule, the committee gives priority to works by living authors rather than deceased ones unless an authorship has new life and current interest.

Spreading of art support

The committee tries to achieve geographic spreading of the total area of support so that the support is disseminated as widely as possible.
The committee prioritises supporting publications that are to a lesser degree expected to be able to manage themselves financially.

When prioritising between a number of applications that are worthy of support, the committee may choose to prioritise projects and applicants who have not previously - or to a more limited degree - have received support. If there is more than one application from the same applicant, the committee reserves the right to prioritise between the applications.

What must the application contain

You must submit your application through our Grant portal, which you can find on this page – we do not accept physical material.
Once you have created your profile on our Grant portal, you may enter or leave the portal at any time to check whether all of your attachments and information are there before you submit the application.

Note: Applicants for grants for more than one project must submit one application for each project. 

If you are applying for grants for the same project from other committees in the Danish Arts Foundation, you must state this in the application.

YOU MUST ATTACH THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENTS

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

  • The attached attachments must not be larger than a total of 25 MB.
  • Attached material is only accepted in the following formats: PDF, Word, MP3 and MP4. We do not accept ZIP files.
  • You may not send further attachments, but within the application period you may revise your application and submit a new version (for the same case). If your application lacks attachments or information, you must send a new, complete application.
  • It is always the latest submitted application that you have sent us that will be processed by the committee.
  • Your application must contain all mandatory attachments in order to be processed by the committee. Further material in addition to what is described in the application guidelines will not be included in the assessment of your application.
  • You are responsible for completing the application form correctly yourself, and you are also responsible for ensuring that all of the attachments wanted are attached.
  • You may not transfer your application – and any grants – to another legal person or company. It is therefore important that you clarify who the applicant is before submitting your application.

How much you may apply for?

In order to promote clarity and to adjust the applicants' expectations, the committee has chosen to introduce fixed grant amounts according to the scope, complexity and expenses in connection with publishing projects. However, when grants are awarded, the committee is not bound by the amount applied for, but makes its decision based on a total assessment of the expense level in individual cases.

Publications:

DKK 15,000 – publication of books and translations up to 100 pages.

DKK 30,000 – publication of books and translations up to 300 pages.

DKK 50,000 – publication of books and translations with more than 300 pages.

DKK 100,000 – for especially complex and expensive works. Therefore, there must be a real extra expense related to producing these works. In order to receive support of this size, you must also explain which other financing sources have been investigated.

Other media:

Literary podcasts: DKK 15,000 – at least 90 minutes, DKK 30,000 – at least 180 minutes, DKK 50,000 – at least 300 minutes.

E-books and literary web publications: Here, as a rule, support is provided in the same way as for publishing books.

PAYMENT

For applicants with foreign bank accounts, a completed bank information form must be attached, either the form for wire transfers to countries using IBAN or the form for wire transfers to countries NOT using IBAN.

If you are a Danish organisation, or business and receive a grant, you must have a NemKonto available for the payment transfer. We transfer all grants to the NemKonto linked to the Danish CVR number you state in the application. If you, for example, apply with a new CVR number, you have to make sure that you have linked it to a NemKonto. You have to do this before a potential grant is awarded.

If you have moved out of Denmark according to the Danish Customs and Tax Administration’s definition, or if you are a foreign applicant, you are able to have a potential grant transferred to a foreign bank account.

If you receive a grant of:

•    DKK 100,000 or less, we pay the grant as closely as possible to the start date you have stated in your application. You should therefore make sure that the start date you enter matches the date of the first expenses for your project

We report the grant to the Danish Tax Agency, but tax has not been deducted from the payment.

When

You will receive a reply to your application no later than eight weeks after the application deadline.

During the period until then, all applications will be made ready and sent to the committee, after which they will be read and processed.

When you have submitted your application

When you have submitted your electronic application, you will automatically see a receipt on the screen. You will not receive an email.
Throughout the entire process, you can see your application in the portal under 'My applications'.

It is your responsibility that the necessary attachments are included in the submission – so please remember to review your application carefully. If anything is missing, you can send a revised version for the same case. This version 2 must be complete; for example, you must send all attachments.

All communication between us about your case takes place through the Grant portal.
 

Commitment

When the Danish Arts Foundation awards grants, it is important to us, and not least legally required, that the money is used for exactly what you have described in your application and budget. Therefore, you must report to the Agency for Culture and Palaces according to certain guidelines. How you report depends on how large the grant you have received is. Read more about reporting/presentation of accounts.

Who will evaluate your application?

It is the Danish Arts Foundation's Committee for Literary Project Funding that assesses the applications and makes the final decision about who is to receive grants.

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