Within the framework of the Creative Europe 2021-2027 program, from the Culture subprogram, a call for proposals for the Circulation of European Literary Works campaign for 2023 has been announced.

It is expected that the action will finance projects that will contribute to the achievement of the following goals:

– Increasing the transnational distribution and diversity of European literary works, in particular by encouraging translations from less used languages ​​in order to increase their distribution in larger markets in Europe and beyond.

– Approaching a new audience for European literary works in the EU. and beyond that.

– Increase the competitiveness of the book sector by encouraging collaboration along the book value chain.

Especially for 2023, taking into account the exceptional conditions in Europe, projects aimed at providing Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons with European or Ukrainian books in Ukrainian will be encouraged. In this regard, it will be lawful to print, distribute and promote European or Ukrainian works of art in Ukrainian.

Projects are implemented either by one organization (single beneficiary) or by a group of organizations (multiple beneficiaries). Each plan should include the following elements:

– Promotes diversity of literature in the target country(s) by including works from underrepresented countries and especially works written in less used languages.

– The distribution strategy ensures wide and easy access to works for the general public.

– The promotion strategy contributes to the expansion and renewal of the audience of European translated works of art.

– Encourages collaboration between authors, translators, publishers, distributors, booksellers, libraries, festivals and literary events.

– This contributes to enhancing the authority of translators and respects the principle of fair remuneration.

– It addresses the cross-cutting issues (integration, gender equality and environmental impact reduction) of the Creative Europe program and the priorities of the Culture subprogramme for 2023.

To be eligible, applicants must be a publisher or publishing house established in one of the countries participating in the Culture subprogramme, operating in the field of publishing in legal form for at least two years prior to the application deadline.

The original language and the language of translation must be one of the officially recognized languages ​​of the countries participating in the sub-program “Culture”. Ancient Greek and Latin are optional.

The target language must be the native language of the translator.

Translations must be cross-border: not from one official national language to another in the same country, i.e. from Castilian to Basque.

Literary works to be translated in print or electronic form (e-books), on the one hand, must be works of art of high literary quality, and on the other hand, the authors of said works must be citizens/residents of higher eligible countries (with the exception of works written in Latin or Ancient Greek).

Please note that non-fiction works such as: autobiographies or biographies or non-fiction essays, travel guides, books in the humanities (such as history, philosophy, economics, etc.) and books related to other sciences ( such as physics, mathematics, etc.). ).

In addition, works should not have been previously translated into the target language, unless the new translation meets a clearly documented need.

The competition has a total budget of 5 million euros for 2023 and is expected to support around 40 projects. The grant amount for each category of projects is distributed as follows:

– Small projects: translation of at least 5 different books, grant amount up to 100,000 euros.

– Medium projects: translation of at least 11 different books, grant amount up to 200,000 euros.

– Large-scale projects: translation of at least 21 different books, grant amount up to 300,000 euros.

The amount of the subsidy is 60% of the approved budget.

Each offer includes translation, publication and distribution of works, as well as B2B activities aimed at promoting the sale of translation rights in Europe and beyond.

Calls details and application conditions are available at: https://culture.ec.europa.eu/calls/circulation-of-european-literary-works-1.

Applications are accepted until February 21, 2023.

* Ms. M. Paspalari is the Managing Director of AMBIO SA.