Circulation of European literary works

This action will support projects that will translate, publish, distribute and promote works of fiction.

Themes and priorities

• strengthening the transnational circulation and diversity of European literary works;
• encouraging the translation and promotion of works in lesser-used languages to increase their circulation to larger markets in Europe and beyond;
• reaching new audiences for European literary works in Europe and beyond;
• strengthening the competitiveness of the book sector by encouraging cooperation within the book value chain.

In addition,

• The principle of fair remuneration of writers and translators should be respected in line with the "Translators on the cover" report by the EU Member States’ experts group on multilingualism and translation mandated by the Council under the Open Method of Coordination.
• Considering the exceptional circumstances in Europe, projects with the objective of providing European or Ukrainian books in Ukrainian language to Ukrainian refugees and displaced people will be encouraged. In this regard, the printing, distribution and promotion of European or Ukrainian works of fiction in Ukrainian will be eligible. NB: Projects should still satisfy the general eligibility conditions and include at least 5 translations.

Activities that can be funded

Translation, promotion and distribution of literary works of fiction as well as activities to help the sales of translation rights in Europe and beyond.

The proposed activities should be grouped, in the application form part B, in coherent work packages (i.e. major sub-division of the project). Each work package must have a corresponding list of activities, deliverables, milestones and critical risks.

Expected Impact

The action will support around 40 projects, implemented either by a single entity (mono-beneficiary) or by a grouping of organisations (multi-beneficiary).

Each project must be based on a sound editorial and promotional strategy covering a package of at least 5 eligible works of fiction translated from and into eligible languages, and must include the following elements:

• the proposed package contributes to the diversity of literature in the target country (or countries) by including works of fiction from countries that are underrepresented, and in particular works written in lesser-used languages,
• the distribution strategy ensures wide and easy access to the works for the general public,
• the promotion strategy contributes to an enlargement and renewal of the audience,
• the project encourages collaboration between authors, translators, publishers, distributors, booksellers, libraries, festivals, literary events, etc.,
• the project contributes to raising the profile of translators and respects the principle of fair remuneration,
• the project addresses the Creative Europe programme cross-cutting issues and the Culture Strand 2023 priorities (see section 1.Background for details).