Literary production and translation

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

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 can only apply when you have acquired the rights to the work and signed a contract with the translator named in the application.

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.

The purpose of the Danish Arts Foundation is, among other things, to further literature and access to literature in Denmark as well as further Danish literature abroad.

With this programme, 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.

A fundamental premise for the Committee for Literary Project Funding is that artistic quality is, in essence, human-made. This does not exclude the use of technology in limited support functions or as part of creative experiments, but it implies that the creator cannot merely be a post-editor of machine-generated text or machine-generated illustrations.

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. 

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.

Please read our guidelines before submitting your application.

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

• Mandatory template with information about the application and budget
• Text sample in Danish of the original work (5-8 pages), possibly a table of contents
• Bank form with information about 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. 

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 in contribution towards the total costs of the publication of books and translations up to 100 pages.
• DKK 30,000 in contribution towards the total costs of the publication of books and translations up to 300 pages.
• DKK 50,000 in contribution towards the total costs of the publication of books and translations with more than 300 pages.
• DKK 100,000 in contribution towards the total costs of especially complex and expensive works. Therefore, there must be a genuine 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.

You will receive a reply to your application no later than 12 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.

Decisions are made in accordance with section 3(1), cf. (2) and (3) of Danish Act no. 458 of 8 May 2013 on the activities of the Danish Arts Foundation [§ 3, stk. 1, jf. stk. 2 og 3 i Lov nr. 458 af 8. maj 2013 om Statens Kunstfonds virksomhed].

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.