Financial Assistance for Translations
Austria | Germany | Switzerland | The Arts Council of England | European Union - Ariane Programme

The titles reviewed in new books in german have been chosen on the recommendation of a panel of book trade professionals as books which seem particularly likely to succeed in the British market and to be commercially viable. Nevertheless, for many publishers the high initial cost of making a translation is a critical factor.

Assistance is available from the German-language countries, from the European Union, and from Britain. The Literature Department of the Arts Council of England has a most welcome Translation Grants fund to help publishers issue foreign works that might otherwise remain inaccessible to British readers. The translation by Mike Mitchell of Helmut Krausser's novel The Great Bagarozy, and its publication by Dedalus in January 1999, were made possible by financial support from the Arts Council of England and Inter Nationes. This book was brought to the attention of Dedalus by the review in new books in german, Autumn 1997.

The conditions under which translations become eligible for grants vary considerably from country to country and from organisation to organisation. Austria, Germany and Switzerland offer grants relating to the works of authors who are citizens of their respective countries. Each book review in new books in german indicates the country to which application should be made. Arrangements have been made with the fund-giving organisations in these three countries so that the books reviewed in this issue will be given special consideration for translation grants, although funding cannot be guaranteed and will depend on the book or its translation meeting specific criteria. New books in german is extremely grateful to these organisations for this extra assistance. Please click on the links above to see details of each scheme.