Funding Sources for Translating and Editing Books
A List of Funding Sources
There are numerous funding sources available to you to help you translate and edit your research. Below you will find a comprehensive list of grants available in Israel. These options should be discussed with your colleagues and peers to see which may be the most relevant. Funding is also sometimes available via your university or college. Be sure to check in with your research authority to see if you are eligible.
General Ideas for Funding Search
The best way to search for funding is to do your homework and find out what foundations and organizations fund research in your field. One of the best ways to do this is to look at conferences and events in your field and see who the funders are. You can also open up books in your field and see who is credited with funding.
Looking for funding and applying for grants can create additional work for you in the short term but is critical if you want to pay for professional translation and editing services. You may want to consider scheduling a meeting with your Research Authority to see if they have any funds available or can point you in the right direction.
Below are two lists of available funding sources and basic criteria for translation and/or editing. The first lists international foundations, and the second lists Israeli based sources.
International Foundations
The CEEBP grants program assists publishers in defraying the costs of translation and publication of high quality literary and scholarly books into the languages of Central and Eastern Europe. The Special European history and literature translation program, is aimed at making seminal books in the fields of European history and literature available to an educated reading public that is broader than specialized circles.
Searchable list of national and regional organizations which offer programs for the promotion of translations for publishing companies and translators.
The Goethe-Institut’s grant programme “Translations of German Books into Other Languages” supports non-German publishers in publishing German-language literature, with the aim of making accessible to non-German speaking readers current works of contemporary literature, literature for children and young people, important academic titles and non-fiction works. For academic works an expert evaluation must be obtained from the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft” (German research organization).
Offers $1,000 to a U.S. citizen for a translation of a book of poetry from any language into English published in the United States during the current year.
Bursaries, fellowships, travel grants and other opportunities. Searchable by region and country and by audience, for translators, writers and publishers.
Scholarly editions and translations grants support the preparation of editions and translations of pre-existing texts of value to the humanities that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. Typically, the texts and documents are significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials. Projects must be undertaken by at least one editor or translator and one other collaborating scholar. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years.
PEN Translates was launched to encourage UK publishers to acquire more books from other languages. The award helps UK publishers to meet the costs of translating new works into English. The award funds up to 100% of translation costs.
- Centre national du livre The National Book Center
Offers quality translations of French works with a strongly representative literary or scientific character to the global public, in printed or digital form, complementing the economic risk taken by an editor with a diversified, quality editorial product accessible in large numbers.
- International Humanities
With the International Humanities program the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the VG Wort, the Association of the German Book Trade (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels), and the Foreign Ministry seek to promote the translation of works in the humanities and the social sciences. The financing of translation costs into English, and in limited cases also into other languages, will be supported. The goal of this funding is to contribute to the spread of German research results in the humanities around the world, while simultaneously preserving the status of German as a scientific language, and as a primary publication language for works in the humanities and the social sciences. German publishing houses, in agreement with a publishing house that seeks to acquire a license, may submit for support publications from the field of the humanities and the social sciences that meet the usual scientific standards.
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation advances efforts to translate original Buddhist texts, following the Buddhist mission to teach the dharma in multiple languages. As such, the Foundation offers a range of grants to support the creation of critical editions, translations of ancient texts, the translation of scholarly works from one modern language into another, and more. Priority is given to collaborative projects and scholars who working on translation projects in their native language. The award provides funding of up to $80,000 for a 12 month period.
Grants in Israel
The GIF Regular Program supports cooperative research projects conducted jointly by German and Israeli scientists. Projects must involve active collaboration between Israeli and German scientists.
Support of 50% for book publishing and up to 100% for editing and translation. Submitted material may be the conclusion of long-term research or a collection of papers published for the first time. Open to researchers from all types of institutions according to the terms and guidelines for submission and the eligibility guide.
Support for the publication of books, student grants, and a literary prize once every two years.
Support for the translation of plays and poetry. Every year there are Calls for Proposals for grants and scholarships in varying categories.
The Minister of Culture Prize, the Prime Minister's Prize, the Agnon Prize and other Calls for Proposals. These are published on the Ministry of Culture page on a regular basis.
Grants for literature and poetry throughout the year (no need to submit a specific date). Intended for female writers and poets residing in Tel Aviv or for books dealing with the city. In addition, there is an "Am Hasefer" grant (once a year).
The BSF Research Grants program is the main program of the BSF, and it funds both U.S. and Israeli scientists who wish to work together. In recent years the BSF receives 400 research grant applications annually. At any given moment there are around 450 active grants in this program, and the total annual expenditure in this program is around $16 M. Applications to the program are made jointly by U.S. and Israeli researchers.
Peras Gorgias facilitates the publication in English of exceptional monographs by Hebrew-speaking authors in order to expand their readership. Every two years, Peras Gorgias recognizes three exceptional contributions to the fields of Bible, Ancient Near East, and Jewish Studies by Hebrew-speaking scholars who face barriers to publishing their work in English and who are in the early stages of their career.
Do you know of funding sources that don’t appear on this list? If so, please let us know and we will add them.
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