Sample translations from Danish

Deadline: 12.02.2025, 2:00 PM

Grants for sample translations from Danish of works for adults, children and young adults.

Det er ikke desværre ikke muligt at ansøge på mobilen med vores nuværende løsning.
Note:

This programme has two annual deadlines. The deadlines in 2025 are February 12th and September 3rd.

We'll open for applications no later than a month before the deadline.

Who may apply?

Danish and foreign publishers and agencies.

Note: In order to ensure the spreading of art support, you may apply for support for a total of four sample translations. 

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.

YOU CAN APPLY FOR GRANTS FOR: 

A sample translation of at least 40 pages of a Danish work to a foreign language as well as picture books and other works that have fewer than 40 pages. 

YOU CANNOT APPLY FOR GRANTS FOR: 

  • Sample translations of works that the committee assesses belong to the realm of research, education, regional and local history, handbooks, self-help and lifestyle books, dictionaries, catalogues, or similar literature.
  • Sample translations of your own works or text revisions.

Purpose of the program

The purpose of the Danish Arts Foundation is, among other things, to further literature and access to literature in Denmark as well as further Danish literature abroad.

With this program, the Committee for Literary Project Funding wants to support Danish and foreign publishers and agencies that want to pay a translator for a sample translation of a current Danish work. The purpose of the sample translation must be to assess if there’s interest in a full translation and publication.

The committee contributes towards the costs of sample translations with a fixed grant of DKK 8,000 for a sample translation with at least 40 pages and a fixed grant of DKK 3,000 for picture books and other works with fewer than 40 pages.

The grant cannot stand alone and further financing of the sample translation is expected.

How your application will be evaluated?

Quality

The committee assesses the project that is applied for as a whole in order to assess its artistic quality. The committee's assessment of the quality places emphasis on:

  • The literary quality of the work. When assessing the literary quality, the committee examines artistic and personal necessity and looks for professional and linguistic ability. The willingness to try out new themes and expressions is considered to be positive, just as cultural and societal relevance are.
  • The work's current interest. As a rule, the committee gives priority to works by living authors rather than deceased ones unless an authorship has new life and current interest.
  • The qualifications of the translator, including that the translator is experienced and translates into his or her mother tongue.

Spreading of art support

When prioritising between a number of applications that are worthy of support, the committee may choose to prioritise projects and applicants who have not previously or have received support to a more limited degree. If there is more than one application from the same applicant, the committee reserves the right to prioritise between the applications. The Committee does not prioritize applications regarding sample translations to Swedish or Norwegian as the Committee presumes professional Scandinavian publishers can understand Danish.

Sustainability

Danish Arts Foundation encourages applicants to incorporate green sustainability into their work.

What must the application contain

You must submit your application through the Grant portal, which you can find on this page – we do not accept physical material.

Once you have created your profile on the Grant portal, you may enter or leave the portal at any time to check whether all of your attachments and information are there before you submit the application.

YOU MUST ATTACH THE FOLLOWING ATTACHMENTS

•    Sample translations from Danish – information about the application 
•    Danish text sample of the original work (5-8 pages)
•    Bank information form (see the 'Finances' section)

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

  • The attached attachments must not be larger that a total of 25 MB.
  • Attached material is only accepted in the following formats: PDF, Word, MP3 and MP4. We do not accept ZIP files.
  • You may not send further attachments, but within the application period you may revise your application and submit a new version (for the same case). If your application lacks attachments or information, you must send a new, complete application.
  • It is always the latest submitted application that you have sent us that will be processed by the committee.
  • Your application must contain all mandatory attachments in order to be processed by the committee. Further material in addition to what is described in the application guidelines will not be included in the assessment of your application.
  • You are responsible for completing the application form correctly yourself, and you are also responsible for ensuring that all of the attachments wanted are attached.
  • You may not transfer your application – and any grants – to another legal person or company. It is therefore important that you clarify who the applicant is before submitting your application.

How much you may apply for?

The committee contributes towards the costs of sample translations with a fixed grant of DKK 8,000 for a sample translation with at least 40 pages and a fixed grant of DKK 3,000 for picture books and other works with fewer than 40 pages.

The grant cannot stand alone and further financing of the sample translation is expected.

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 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 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.

We are required to report your grant to the Danish Tax Agency. This is regardless of whether and how you are to be taxed of the grant. The vast majority of our grants are reported with labour market contributions (AM-bidrag).

When

You will receive a reply to your application no later than eight weeks after the application deadline through your case in the Grant portal.

During the period until then, all applications will be made ready and sent to the committee, after which they will be read and processed. 
 

When you have submitted your application

When you have submitted your electronic application, you will automatically see a receipt on the screen. You will not receive an email.

Throughout the entire process, you can see your application in the portal under 'My applications'.

It is your responsibility that the necessary attachments are included in the submission – so please remember to review your application carefully. If anything is missing, you can send a revised version for the same case. This version 2 must be complete; for example, you must send all attachments.

All communication between us about your case takes place through the Grant portal.
 

Commitment

When the Danish Arts Foundation awards grants, it is important to us, and not least legally required, that the money is used for exactly what you have described in your application and budget. Therefore, you must report to the Agency for Culture and Palaces according to certain guidelines. How you report depends on how large the grant you have received is. Read more about reporting/presentation of accounts.

Who will evaluate your application?

It is the Danish Arts Foundation's Committee for Literary Funding that assesses the applications and makes the final decision about who is to receive grants.

More