Nordic translations

• Nordic publishers wishing to publish a work translated from Danish into another Nordic language.
• Non-Nordic publishers: please apply to the fund ‘Literary production and translation’.

Applications should be made in the Nordic country in which the work was originally published. For the translation of works from Danish, you should therefore submit your application to the Danish Arts Foundation's Committee for Literary Project Funding.

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.

Before submitting the application, the applicant must have acquired the copyrights for the literary work and signed a contract with a translator.

Projects may not be finished before the expiry of the application deadline.

Find out more about how to apply if your project combines different art forms.

You cannot receive funding for:

• translation of works within the areas of research, education, regional and local history, handbooks, hobby books, self-help books, and catalogues
• translation of your own works and text revision

Furthermore, funding is typically not awarded to Danish publishers for publication of Danish works in translation.

The purpose of the scheme is to contribute to the publication of quality Nordic literature in Nordic languages other than the original language. Grants may also be awarded for special feature issues of magazines intended for Nordic countries, just as publishing support for illustrated children’s books may also be granted.

When evaluating the application the committee considers the quality of the work in question and the translator’s qualifications. It is typically expected that the translator is professional with experience in translating from Danish.

The committee reserves the right to accommodate the application with a smaller amount than was applied for, based on an assessment of the application in relation to the total range of applications, the funds set aside and the wish to ensure diversity and spreading of art support.
 
If you receive a smaller amount than applied for, please read in your grant notification letter whether you should submit more information before we can pay your grant.

When evaluating the application, emphasis is placed on the following: 

• The quality of the work.
• The translator’s qualifications. It is typically expected that the translator is professional and has experience with translating from the language in question within the same genre as the work for which funding is being requested.
• That the translator translates into his or her mother tongue.
• That the work is translated from the language in which the work was originally published.

It is typically a condition for receiving a grant that the work is translated from the language in which the work was originally published and that the translator translates into his or her mother tongue.

In the case of non-fiction, the committee considers whether the work is of general interest.

Special consideration is given to applications for grants for the translation of poetry, drama, and books for children and young adults, while works that have been awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize will be given top priority for up to three years after winning the prize. Priority is also given to the minority language areas in the Nordic countries.

If you have applied for grants from the Committee for Literary Project Funding within the past three years, this information will be considered in the evaluation of your application.

You must submit your application using our digital application form found via the link on this page.

However, at the bottom of the page, you will find the application form as a PDF. Use this to familiarise yourself with the content and make sure you are ready with all the required information and documents, before filling in the actual application form. The digital application form has a 15-minute session timeout, so you need to fill it in rather quickly.

We recommend you to use the browsers Chrome or Firefox when you fill in the application form.

You must attach the following:

• The translator’s CV including relevant information: education, experience, list of selected translations, etc. (maximum one A4 sheet).
• Three pages from the sample translation.
• Three pages from the original work in Danish.
• For applicants with a non-Danish account, a bank information form (see section “Grant amount and payment”)

When filling out the project description, you must also state specific goals planned for your project, That may be, for example, that a work written and published in Danish is translated and published in one of the other Nordic languages or that a Danish children’s book is translated and published in another Nordic language with publishing support. If we ask you to report on your project, we will evaluate whether you have fulfilled the goals and activities stated in your application.

If you apply for funding for the same project from other Danish Arts Foundation committees, you have to state this in your application.

Please be aware of the following:

• The total size of the attached files may not exceed 15 MB.
• We accept the document formats PDF, Word, and Excel. We do not accept ZIP files.
• You are not able to edit an application once you have submitted it. If your application is incomplete, you must submit a new and complete application before the deadline.
• The committee will process the most recently submitted application.
• Your application must include all the required attachments in order to be processed by the committee.
• You are responsible for ensuring that your application has been filled in correctly and that all required attachments are included. Please check your email receipt for a list of the documents attached to your submitted application.

You may apply for a grant to cover all or part of the translation fee. Usually, however, grants will cover only a part of the translation fee.

Grants for translation may only be used for fees for the specific translator with whom a contract has been entered and whose CV is stated in the application. The full grant must be paid to the translator without the deduction of any fees, taxes or duties.

To get an idea of usual grant amounts, you can look at previously awarded grants on our website (in Danish).

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 citizen, 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 CPR/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
• more than DKK 100,000 with a project period longer than six months, we pay the grant in instalments.

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

You will receive the committee’s decision via email within 8 weeks after the application deadline.

Throughout those weeks, the committee will read and process all submitted applications. We will publish all awarded grants on our website (in Danish), once all applicants have received the committee’s decision.

The names of all applicants are made public on our website in the committees’ minutes (in Danish).

When you have submitted your application, you will receive an email receipt with your application number. Remember to state your application number if you contact us.

In your email receipt, you will also find an overview of the documents attached to your application. It is your responsibility to check that all required documents are submitted, so please check the list to be sure.

Decisions are made in accordance with section 3(1), cf. (2) and (3) of the Danish Act on the Danish Arts Foundation’s Activities (Act no. 458 of 8 May 2013).

When the Danish Arts Foundation awards grants, it is important, and not least legally required, that the money is used for the purpose you have described in your application. Therefore, you must report on your project to the Agency for Culture and Palaces. How you must report depends on the grant amount you have received. Read more about how to report on your project.

As part of the reporting, a copy of the translated work must be sent to the Danish Arts Foundation upon publication. You must also send copies of the translated work to the Nordic Council of Ministers and The Nordic House:

Nordic Council of Ministers
Ved Stranden 18
DK-1255 Copenhagen V
Denmark

The Nordic House
Sæmundargata 11
101 Reykjavík
Iceland

When you receive a grant for the translation of a work from the Nordic Council of Ministers, the council must be credited on the colophon page and dust jacket or, for editions in pocket format, on the back cover. For this purpose, you will need the Nordic Council of Ministers' logo, which you can find here.

The Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Literary Project Funding processes the applications and makes the final decision concerning the distribution of the committee’s funds.

The Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces administers the translation support in collaboration with the other Nordic centres for literature.

Contacts in the Nordic countries:

• Norway: Norla
• Sweden: The Swedish Arts Council
• Finland: Fili
• Iceland: Icelandic Literature Centre
• Faeroe Islands: Farlit
• Greenland:  The Greenlandic Society of Authors
• Sami language region: Sami Artist Council