Grants & Awards

Note: For complete details and the latest updates on the following awards, go directly to the award websites using the links provided.

Santa Fe Art Institute/Witter Bynner Foundation Poetry Translator Residency: The residency runs from May 30 through June 30 and can accommodate two translators for up to four weeks each. Each translator will receive roundtrip transportation, accommodations and work space, and a stipend. Open to both published and emerging poetry translators. Deadline Jan. 1.

The PEN Gregory Kolovakos Award ($2000) is awarded triennially to honor an American literary translator, editor, or critic whose work, in meeting the challenge of cultural difference, extends Gregory Kolovakos's commitment to the richness of Hispanic literature and to expanding its English-language audience. Deadline: Jan. 15.

The PEN Translation Fund Grants ($2000 to $10,000) support the translation of book-length works of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an egregiously flawed translation. Deadline: Jan. 15.

BCLA/BCLT Translation Competition: The British Comparative Literature Association and The British Centre for Literary Translation (University of East Anglia) sponsor annual prizes for the best unpublished literary translations from any language into English. Deadline Jan. 31.

The Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature provides subsidies for non-Dutch publishers wishing to publish translations of Dutch or Frisian literature. Application forms are available on the Foundation website. There is no deadline, but applications must be made prior to publication.

Each year, ALTA invites publishers to nominate book-length translations, published in the preceding calendar year, for the ALTA National Translation Award. The award-winning book and translator are announced and featured at the annual ALTA conference held each fall. The translator selected for this award receives a cash gift, currently set at $2500.

To be eligible for the award, a translation must have been published during the preceding calendar year by a U.S. or Canadian publisher and must be a book-length work, in English, of fiction, poetry, drama, or creative non-fiction (literary criticism and philosophy are not eligible). For nominated books selected as finalists, publishers will be asked to provide an original-language version of the text; any finalist for which no original-language version is provided will be excluded from further consideration. The criteria for judging the award are: (1) the significance of the literary contribution of the original as well as of the translation; and (2) the success of the translation in recreating the artistry of the original. Translations of contemporary works will receive preference, although important retranslations or first-time translations of older works will also be considered to the degree that they make significant contributions to literature.

The deadline for nominating books published in the preceding calendar year is March 31. For each nominated book, send a letter of nomination, four copies of the book, and a $25 entry fee (check for U.S. funds made to ALTA) to:

National Translation Award
American Literary Translators Association
The University of Texas at Dallas
Box 830688 (JO 51)
Richardson, TX 75083-0688

The American Literary Translators Association Travel Fellowship Award is for beginning translators. We will offer fellowships for travel to our 30th Annual ALTA Conference, to be held in Richardson, Texas, November 7 - 11, 2007 If you would like to apply for the ALTA Travel Fellowship, send a cover letter stating your desire to attend the conference, a CV and no more than ten double-spaced pages of translation (translation into English) accompanied by the original text to:

Lindy Jolly
ALTA Travel Fellowship Award
c/o The University of Texas at Dallas
P. O. Box 830688 – JO51
Richardson , TX 75083-0688

The deadline for applying for the fellowships is May 15, 2007.

NORLA Translation Subsidies are designed to stimulate the translation and publication of Norwegian fiction abroad. Publishers from language areas outside the Nordic countries may apply for financial support for the translation of all types of Norwegian fiction. Applications are considered twice yearly. Deadlines: May 15 & Dec. 15.

TEDA Project
For the wider dissemination of Turkish literature and better recognition of Turkish culture, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey offers grants for the translation or publication or promotion of Turkish cultural, artistic and literary works outside of Turkey. Priority will be given to publications in widely-used languages. The Ministry will provide subventions to well-known publishers abroad for the translation/editing/publishing/promotion of books relating to Turkish culture, arts and literature provided that such books are published outside of Turkey in languages other than Turkish. Applications for grants may be made by publishers (international institutions, enterprises, companies, foundations and publishing firms); interested translators are encouraged to contact their publishers to make them aware of this project. Applications should be received at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism by the final workday of May or the final workday of September each year. For complete details, please visit: www.kulturturizm.gov.tr/EN/

August

Institute for Romanian Culture
Developing translators are encouraged to apply for one of the 20 residency grants to be awarded. Each provides 2000 EURO, housing, a partnership with the MA in Translation Studies at the University of Bucharest , and workshops with Romanian translators. The deadline for the first session (April – June) is March 1, and for the second (October to December), August 1. Applicants should send a letter of intent, a CV, and one recommendation from a Romanian professor or translator, to the president of the institute. Contact information is available at the website www.icr.ro.

The Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry provides grants for the translation of poetry from languages not currently available to English readers and poetry which has not been translated or merits a new translation. Projects that explore the art and the process of translation are also encouraged. The foundation does not fund publications of poetry-in-translation; it rather makes it a priority to give grants to individual translators. Letters of intent are accepted from August 1 to December 1 of each year. An invitation to submit an application will be issued if the foundation finds the project appropriate to its mission. Samples from the proposed translation will be expected to accompany the application.

TEDA Project
For the wider dissemination of Turkish literature and better recognition of Turkish culture, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey offers grants for the translation or publication or promotion of Turkish cultural, artistic and literary works outside of Turkey. Priority will be given to publications in widely-used languages. The Ministry will provide subventions to well-known publishers abroad for the translation/editing/publishing/promotion of books relating to Turkish culture, arts and literature provided that such books are published outside of Turkey in languages other than Turkish. Applications for grants may be made by publishers (international institutions, enterprises, companies, foundations and publishing firms); interested translators are encouraged to contact their publishers to make them aware of this project. Applications should be received at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism by the final workday of May or the final workday of September each year. For complete details, please visit: www.kulturturizm.gov.tr/EN/

NORLA Translation Subsidies are designed to stimulate the translation and publication of Norwegian fiction abroad. Publishers from language areas outside the Nordic countries may apply for financial support for the translation of all types of Norwegian fiction. Applications are considered twice yearly. Deadlines: May 15 & Dec. 15.

The PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize ($3000) is given annually to a book-length translation, published during the current calendar year, from any language into English. Publishers, agents, or authors may apply. Deadline: Dec. 15.

The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ($3000) is given annually to a book-length translation of poetry, published during the current calendar year, from any language into English. Publishers, agents, or authors may apply. Deadline: Dec. 15.

The Translators Association (UK) awards 14 translation prizes ranging from £1000- £5000 each for book-length translations into English from the following languages or genres: Italian, Spanish, French, Japanese, German, Dutch/Flemish, Portuguese, Greek, Swedish, Hebrew, Children's Literature, Fiction/Poetry/Drama, Drama, and Fiction. Deadline: Dec. 20.

Harold Morton Landon Translation Award ($1000) is given annually by the Academy of American Poets for a book of poems translated from any language into English. Deadline: Dec. 31.

Mildred L. Batchelder Award of the Association for Library Service to Children: given to an American publisher for the most outstanding children's book, originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, to appear in English in the U. S. during the preceding year. Deadline: Dec 31 of the publication year.