Initiative Scholarship

Program description

Anyone working on a promising, high-quality literary project that has not yet been accepted by a German-language publisher can apply for an initiative grant. The grant is intended to support further research, the development of the project, the preparation of an exposé and a sample translation, as well as the mediation work with book or magazine publishers.

The legal status of the original must be clarified.

The amount of the grant is €2,000.

Institution

Deutscher Übersetzerfonds

The Deutscher Übersetzerfonds is a non-profit association and is based at the Literary Colloquium Berlin. Awarding scholarships is one of the core activities of the German Translator Fund. In addition, the German Translator Fund offers numerous further and advanced training courses, such as the bilingual Vice-Versa Workshops and the Hieronymus Programme for young translators. The German Translator Fund's Academy of the Art of Translation organizes seminars and workshops that serve to further the education of literary translators, to promote discussion and reflection on quality standards and text strategies, and to promote the exchange of ideas.quality standards and text strategies, reflect on the further development of translation strategies and promote the translators' own writing skills.

Deadline

Applications are accepted on January 15, May 15 and September 15.

Funding types (non-commercial)

Scholarship

Funding criteria

Translators of foreign-language works into German are eligible for funding if the translation of these works requires a sophisticated linguistic, literary style in German.

Applications can be submitted by all translators who are not members of the Board of the German Translators' Fund.

Additional conditions

Acting members of a jury for scholarships with German as the target language may not apply for scholarships with German as the target language; acting members of a jury with German as the source language may not apply for scholarships with German as the source language. Applications by acting jury members for scholarships in the other translation direction are permitted.

Alternative applications for different types of scholarships are permitted. If the formal requirements are met, reapplication with the same project is generally possible.

Application type

Online form

Application procedure/documents

You will be asked to complete and submit the online application form. You will then receive a confirmation by email.

In addition, after completing the application form, the following application documents must be submitted together in a single PDF and uploaded in accordance with the following specifications: max. 10 MB; font size 12; file name according to the pattern: Application_year_scholarship_category_last_name_first_name; please adhere to the stated order of the application documents!

• 3 pages of the sample translation (standard pages with pagination, please do not submit more than 3 pages)
• Project description (own project and initial synopsis, approx. 1 page in total)
• Short biography, professional career (max. 1 standard page)
• List of publications and awards (max. 1 standard page)
• Copy of the relevant part of the original

Jury/Decision-making body

The scholarships are awarded by an expert, independent jury that meets within two months of the application deadline.

FAQ Url

Funded by

The German Translators' Fund is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States.

Funding area

Germany

Funding source of the institution

federal government