European Network for Literary Translation – ENLIT set up

ENLIT has officially been set up at the Frankfurt Book Fair, during a working meeting of the European organisations that promote literary translation. The European Network the Literary Translation. Koen Van Bockstal, director of the Flemish literature Fund (FLF), is one of the driving forces behind this initiative and a candidate chairman.

ENLIT will encourage the further development of support programmes for literary translations and devote more attention and visibility to the literature in the participating countries and regions and international promotion.

The network has been set up by 22 organisations from 19 countries and regions and 21 language areas. Together, they aim to make the various literary voices within and outside the borders of Europe accessible for an international readership.

'We are uniting because, together, we are better able to achieve our objectives,' says director Koen Van Bockstal. 'Those bodies that join the network will share information, set up collaboration projects, invest in research and the collection and processing of data and reinforce each other's international operations. That way, we create an ideal climate for a dynamic cross-border literature policy'.

The participating countries and regions: Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Flanders, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Basque Country, the French-Speaking Community of Belgium, Hungary and Wales.