New Swedish Books, Spring 2020 1
New Swedish Books 44 Swedish Literature Exchange
2019 in numbers In 2019 we made awards to 285 applications supporting the translation of Swedish books into 42 different languages. The total grant sum awarded was SEK 5.5 million – SEK 4.8 million for translation and SEK 550,000 for production. Of these, SEK 763 544 were awarded as grants from the Nordic Council of Ministers for translations into other Nordic languages. The average grant awarded amounted to 56 % of the requested sum for translation and 77% of the requested sum for production, with a cap of SEK 10,000 per book. Of the 398 applications received, we approved 119 for books for children and Y/A and 166 for adults. The biggest changes compared with 2018 were in non-fiction, where we received 71 applications versus 46 in 2018. It is also very gratifying to see that we received 11 more applications for children and Y/A than in 2018, and that poetry is increasingly managing to find a home with foreign publishers. Graphic novels and literary classics both saw a drop in applications. The interest in fiction remains stable compared to previous years. German received the most grants in 2019, taking over from Danish, which topped the charts in the two preceding years. Here are the top languages: German English Spanish French Russian Danish 22 21 17 16 16 14 Facts: Swedish literature abroad – grants for promotion, travel and themed events In 2019, we supported the participation of 65 Swedish authors in events hosted across 28 countries. This grant also covers translator activities, and 10 workshops and seminars for translators were funded. The total grant sum was SEK 2,560,000. Grants for translators of Swedish literature In 2019, we distributed grants totalling SEK 515,000 to 79 translators to support research trips, visits to festivals and book fairs, and travel to workshops and seminars, as well as sample translations. This included the award of 22 grants worth a total of SEK 180,500 to support sample translations into 15 languages. These authors were the subject of the greatest number of applications: Sven Nordqvist Rose Lagercrantz Frida Nilsson Sara Lundberg Mikael Niemi Sara Stridsberg Patrik Svensson Selma Lagerlöf