Translation support

SCHOLARSHIP FOR ESTONIAN TRANSLATORS

This grant is destined for foreign translators, who have published at least one translation with a commercial editor, in a field supported by the Centre National du Livre (CNL, National Book Center), and wishing to stay in France to carry out a translation project from French to their mother tongue, with a publishing outcome.

Committee

Committees meet 3 times a year.

The registration deadlines set by the CNL for the 2018 will be announced soon.

Please send your application to the French Institute in Estonia at least 1 week before the above CNL dealine.

Don’t forget to send us your fully completed application form along with the required registration documents. You can download the application from this link. 

  • Translators must plan a French book translation project, as part of a contract with a foreign editor. They must live abroad.
  • The original work must be in French and fall into the scope supported by the CNL. Are excluded : school books, practical guides and magazines.
  • All work is eligible including public domain works.
  • All foreign languages are eligible.
  • Translators must keep a 3 year gap in between grants.

Application admissibility

The translation shall not be completed before the trip to France.
The translation contracts, and if applicable, the sells rights, shall still be valid.
The original work to translate must be for sale in the country or the linguistic area’s bookstores.
The prints forecast shall exceed 500. Any decision of exception to this requirement lies within the committees and the Head of CNL.

In any case, are excluded :

  • self-edition and edition on account of author
  • secondary translations, in so far as not directly done from the language of the original work

Application content

  • the relevant application form, fully completed. This document is available at the French embassy of the country of residence
  • a covering letter
  • a detailed note about the work to translate
  • a translation sample with the matching French text or for Comics, 6 comic strip boards. The sample provided must represent 10% of the original work, or more if required by the CNL (major projects, poetry…)
  • 1 print of a translated French book already published
  • the editor’s presentation in French and it’s catalog
  • the candidate’s justification of income for the current year
  • a copy of the translation contract, signed by the translator and the foreign editor, along with a French translation of it’s key elements : work title and author, due date for the translation handover, translator’s fees and contract’s date of signature
  • a copy of the sells rights’ contract, signed by both parties, if the work is outside the public domain
  • If applicable, the visit’s report and the translated publication, from a prior grant
  • any additional document required by the head of CNL.

Deadline for application

The fully completed application file is sent to the CNL by the French embassies’ Cultural Departments, along with a recommendation letter.
Committees meet 3 times a year. Check the calendar for application deadlines.
Only fully completed applications files, meeting admissibility criteria shall be examined by the committees.

Selection procedure

Application files are examined by two different committees :

  • Extraduction : literature
  • Extraduction : science and techniques; social studies

The committee members are representatives of the relevant institutions, publishing professionals and experts. An advisory report is submitted to the committee members, who will then submit recommendations to the head of CNL, the ultimate authority for funding decision (application declined, adjourned or successful).

Assessment criteria

  • Work’s quality, in it’s original version
  • Relevance to translate the work, or to re-translate it if applicable, in this particular language and country
  • Translation project’s level of difficulty
  • Quality of the sample’s translation
  • Relevance of a visit to France as part of the translation project (meetings with the author and/or other interlocutors, research in libraries)
  • The foreign publisher’s editorial line and ability to meet it’s obligation to the French editors
  • The recommendation of the French embassy’s Cultural Department, in the specified country

Additional assessment criteria may be taken into account, such as priority given to specific languages and regions, as part of wider national or international projects.

Amount awarded

  • 2000 € per month including living expenses (traveling expenses excluded)
  • Length of stay : 1 to 3 months, up until 6 months for major projects

Modalities of payment

Grants are paid monthly to the beneficiaries, during their stay in France. Dates of visit are decided by the beneficiaries, provided the stay takes place within 12 months following the grants notification.

After the visit to France, the beneficiaries shall submit a report (persons met, research done, place of stay, living conditions….). Once the translation is published, they shall send a print to the Centre National du Livre. This will give permission to a further application.

For further information, please contact :

René Armas Weber, rene(at)ife.ee, 6161640

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