Published: 09 Feb 2017
Strong demand as Publishing Scotland’s Translation Fund provides over £25k to help Scottish writing reach an international audience
Designed to encourage international publishers to translate works by Scottish writers, the Publishing Scotland Translation Fund has allocated £25,000 to overseas publishing houses from a variety of locations including Greece, Bulgaria, Estonia, Norway, Germany and France.
20 Scottish titles were awarded funds over two rounds in 2016 including works from authors Jackie Kay, Maggie O’Farrell, Malachy Tallack, James Kelman, Graeme Macrae Burnet, Sara Maitland and Edward Ross that will be translated into Greek, Catalan, Bulgarian, Estonian, Italian and German amongst other languages.
The Translation Fund supports publishers based outside the United Kingdom to buy rights from Scottish and UK publishers and agents by offering assistance with the cost of translation of Scottish writers.
Aly Barr, acting Head of Literature, Languages and Publishing, Creative Scotland said:
“The translation fund awards not only include many and diverse nations, but cover writing from all corners of literature. Be it the graphic novels of Edward Ross or the Americana of James Kelman’s Dirt Road, the selection is both a showcase of great writing from Scotland and transmitter broadcasting stories from writer to reader, regardless of language or location.”
Marion Sinclair, CEO of Publishing Scotland commented:
“One of our key strands of work in supporting Scottish publishing is internationalisation – and the Translation Fund, along with our Fellowship Programme, translator residencies with Cove Park, Go See Fund for international book fairs, and our strong international Trade Fair programme and rights catalogues, is an integral part of that. Literature crosses borders and we want our publishers and writers to have every opportunity to be seen on the global stage. The Translation Fund is vital for that and we are grateful to Creative Scotland to be able to offer the Fund for the second year.”
Priority is given to the translation of contemporary literature, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing for children and graphic novels. Assessment includes the merit of the work, financial need of the publisher, track record of publisher and translator, and the proposed marketing plan.
The Fund is also used to bring translators to Scotland to meet the writers and publishers in situ, in a residency at Cove Park, Argyll.
For more information about the Translation Fund on Publishing Scotland’s website.
The Fund will be launched again in spring 2017 and will be flagged up on Publishing Scotland and Creative Scotland’s websites as well as other channels.
Details of the titles and publishers awarded funding for over the two rounds in 2016:
The translation fund is administered by Publishing Scotland with funds received from Creative Scotland. The fund is worth a total of £25k, with two annual deadlines per year.
Publishing Scotland is the network and development body for the Scottish publishing industry and is based in Edinburgh. It runs the Publishing Fellowship programme, hosts the national stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair, runs the “Go-See” fund for first-time attendance at book fairs and runs www.booksfromscotland.com. Visit www.publishingscotland.org and follow @publishscotland on Twitter
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information visit www.creativescotland.com follow @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
